Japan is likely to start negotiating tariffs on rice and other farm products during the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in September or later, the government said Monday.
Japan is keen to retain high tariffs on imported rice, wheat, beef, pork, dairy products and sugar to protect its aging farmers from a potential influx of cheap imports under the regional free trade pact.
A senior official told a gathering of Japanese agriculture and other lobbying groups that tariff talks had not yet begun and that the TPP members weren't ready to discuss them in the current round.