By SHO HATSUMI/ Staff Writer
May 11, 2023 at 15:16 JST
Rice planting begins in Ibaraki Prefecture. (Koki Nakamura)
The farm ministry is considering giving itself the legal authority to order farmers to produce more food during times of national emergency.
Japan’s food self-sufficiency is among the lowest of advanced economies, and the impact on supply chains from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has heightened concerns about whether Japan could feed its people.
Sources said the farm ministry is considering submitting a proposed revision of the Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas at next year’s ordinary Diet session.
The Basic Law has never been revised since it was enacted in 1999.
After including wording about the need for a government-wide decision-making process to deal with national emergencies in the Basic Law, the ministry plans to write legislation that would allow it to order increased agricultural production as well as measures to instruct companies to ensure smooth distribution of food products.
One possible proposal is the authority to order flower farmers to plant rice and potatoes.
Other measures that might be included in the legislation would set price controls and a ration system to prevent price surges and food hoarding.
Among the national emergencies being envisioned for use of such orders are suspension of shipping during armed conflicts, a global harvest failure caused by climate change and confusion in the distribution system due to an infectious disease pandemic.
Such measures are already included in guidelines established by the farm ministry for food security during emergencies, but ministry officials felt there was a need for legal backing to allow for implementation of such measures.
According to the ministry officials, other nations, such as Germany and Britain, have enacted laws in recent years giving ministers the authority to issue orders to secure an adequate food supply.
The officials also noted that even for produce where the self-sufficiency ratio is high, Japan’s need to import fuel to harvest such food products also makes the nation vulnerable to surging energy prices.
“If a truly severe situation, such as the total stopping of imports, was to arise, restricting private rights as a final measure may be unavoidable,” Tomohisa Ishikawa, senior economist at the Japan Research Institute, said.
“But such restrictions should be limited to the minimum level needed, and rules should be established beforehand about financial compensation in the event such rights are actually limited,” Ishikawa said.
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