Panels of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party agreed Thursday to call on the government to demand that minimum access levels on rice imports be reduced in its proposals for the next round of trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization.

Members of panels on agricultural trade and general policy said the current minimum access level -- the amount Japan must import under the agreement reached in the Uruguay Round of free trade talks under the auspices of the WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade -- should be lowered.

Japan refused to agree to rice tariffs in the Uruguay Round, which concluded in December 1993, citing the devastating effect of cheaply imported rice on domestic producers.

Instead, Tokyo accepted the minimum access format, under which it was obliged to import a minimum amount of rice that would be gradually increased until 2000.

In fiscal 2000, which runs through next March 31, the nation will have imported 7.2 percent of rice for domestic consumption under the minimum access clause.

LDP members said Japan's proposals on farm trade in the upcoming trade negotiations at the WTO should state that access amounts "be set appropriately in view of food security as well as the domestic production and consumption levels of each country."

However, they agreed that Japan's proposals should not include any specific figure regarding how high the minimum access level should be, according to participants.

The government is expected to hold a meeting of Cabinet ministers as early as Tuesday to formally adopt Japan's proposals on agriculture.

However, major exporters, including the United States, Australia and other Asian nations, have indicated they would like to see Japan's minimum access level increased substantially, and Japan's position on the matter may lead to difficult negotiations, some observers said.

In addition to the rice import issue, the LDP panels also agreed to call for the creation of a new type of import restrictions on foreign-grown vegetables that could be more flexibly implemented than existing safeguards condoned by the WTO.