Japan and the European Union agreed Tuesday that special consideration should be given to Japanese rice and other sensitive farm products in multilateral trade negotiations on tariff cuts, government officials said.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei shared this view with visiting European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy during a meeting in which they discussed farm trade liberalization as part of the ongoing round of World Trade Organization talks, the officials said.
Lamy told Kamei that both Japan and the European Union need to be flexible in their treatment of sensitive farm products and sought Tokyo's cooperation in future trade negotiations, according to the officials.