Farm minister Tadamori Oshima said Monday he expects that a new global trade proposal will better favor Japanese interests.
The World Trade Organization has been bogged down on how to liberalize agricultural trade for three years now.
On one side, Japan and Europe hope to continue protecting their politically powerful farming sectors with high tariffs and subsidies. On the other, the U.S., Canada, Australia and many developing countries are calling for drastic reductions to these taxes.