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Japanese file suit against TPP

More than 1,000 plaintiffs have filed suit in Japan seeking to halt their country’s involvement in the Trans Pacific Partnership.   A former Japanese Agriculture Minister, Masahiko Yamada is leading the suit.  He says the trade agreement would violate Japan’s constitutional guarantee of the right to a stable food supply because it would make the country more dependent on agricultural imports.  The Japan Times says the country already imports 60 percent of its food supply.

Yamada also charges the deal would be a fatal blow to Japan’s livestock industry.  TPP would require Japan to reduce tariffs on beef imports from the current 38.5 percent to 9 percent and cut the duty on pork from a maximum 482 Yen per kilogram ($1.80 per pound) to 50 Yen per kilogram (18 cents per pound).

Japan’s government has declined to comment on the suit.