With the adoption of the new "Fundamental Law," the plan is that it
will be completed
by the end of 1999, and the new policies will be administered (i.e.
implemented) beginning in
the year 2000. The "Fundamental Law" is simply a reflection of the overall
concept, and it must
await a series of enforcement laws and rules in order to deal with
practical, concrete policies
and cases. One such law is the "Agricultural Land Law," which needs an
immediate amendment
to accommodate new development. Yet, it must be noted that the National
Diet does have
physical limitations in processing the number of bills, as does the
Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries in drafting bills each year. We must take these into
consideration and set
carefully selected priorities. Budgetary considerations must follow the same
careful
considerations as well.
Administrative reform must also take place. Presently, large-scale
reform involving all
national government agencies is proceeding, and within our agency, all
bureaus and departments
are undergoing reorganization.
The implementation of the new "Fundamental Law" entails certain external
ramifications. An immediate issue is its relevancy to the next round of the
World Trade
Organization (WTO) negotiations. Our objectives are to secure stable food
resources and the
preservation of the multi functions derived from domestic agricultural
practices. We need to
obtain international recognition for these objectives, and to do so, without
a doubt, we must
secure a national consensus in support of the new "Fundamental Law."
Among OECD nations, only Iceland has a lower food self-sufficiency
rate, and further,
among nations with populations over one hundred million, Japan is the only
nation with such
an extraordinary low rate of food self-sufficiency. Many insist that food
self-sufficiency is an
inalienable right of a sovereign nation. At any rate, this issue needs
persistent attention and
effort to solve. |
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