Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may sacrifice barriers protecting Â鶹´«Ã½ beef and wheat farmers to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade accord, a former government adviser on farm policy said.
Still, Abe¡¯s administration will fight to maintain tariffs on rice, sugar and dairy products, said Shinichi Shogenji, an agricultural science professor at Nagoya University who chaired the Cabinet¡¯s food security advisory panel in 2007 during Abe¡¯s first term as leader.
¡°Japan may be able to protect about 5 percent of its total goods in the TPP negotiations,¡± Shogenji said Tuesday. ¡°Rice is the national staple, sugar is vital to Okinawa and milk is what our kids drink.¡±
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