[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the sixth meeting of the Regulatory Reform Promotion Council at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, there was discussion regarding opinions on the reform of agricultural cooperatives, and opinions on the reform of the production and distribution system for milk and dairy products.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

“During the November 7 meeting, I requested that this Council quickly compile a proposal on the reform of agricultural cooperatives and of the production and distribution system for milk and dairy products that was truly for the benefit of farmers and consumers. Today, we made a decision on that proposal.

I want to express my gratitude to everyone in this Council and all related parties for putting your minds together for your discussion in order to pioneer a future for agriculture.

We will accelerate self-reforms for the reform of agricultural cooperatives during a concentrated promotion period.

In particular, in order to advance the reform of ZEN-NOH (National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations) in the areas of production materials and distribution processing, which is a touchstone of the structural reform of the agriculture industry, I would like for results and numeric targets to be set that can be understood by the agricultural workers of each cooperative and the public. I would like annual plans to be established, and for self-reforms to be advanced with the intention of transforming into an entirely new organization.

There are many other issues that agricultural cooperatives across the country, including ZEN-NOH, should work on. I request that the Regulatory Reform Promotion Council thoroughly follow-up with both groups on the state of reforms.

Furthermore, concerning the reform of the distribution system for raw milk, we will reform the system that subsidizes only dairy farmers shipping to designated organizations for the first time in 50 years. Combining the good points of the system for joint sales by agricultural cooperatives and the free market, which delivers unique products to consumers, we will undertake reform to create a system that utilizes the innovations of dairy farmers.

Structural reforms and reforms to heighten productivity outside of the agricultural industry must also be urgently addressed. I want the Regulatory Reform Promotion Council to continue to exert every effort for regulatory reforms.”