[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the 63rd meeting of the Regulatory Reform Council at the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the meeting, the “Fourth Report on Regulatory Reforms” was compiled.

After receiving the report from Mr. Motoyuki Oka, Chair of the Council, the Prime Minister said,

“I would like to once again express my thanks to Chair Oka and all council members for your efforts over the past three and a half years in compiling four reports on regulatory reforms. The council has made wide ranging proposals without exceptions as a drill breaking through vested interests. These proposals need to be put into action and thoroughly completed so that the general public can experience the achievements of reform for themselves.

For example, to ensure sufficient supplies of butter reaching dining tables, we will ensure that butter imported by the national government is not sold in situations where butter sales are suspected of being held back. Furthermore, we will consider fundamental reforms on how to heighten the managerial motivation of dairy farmers.

There is no end to regulatory reform. The world continues to change. New needs are born from this change. If we cannot meet these needs, Japan will not be able to grow.

We will now shift gears to identify and solve regulatory reform issues and link this up with economic growth.

I ask for your cooperation in these efforts.”