Despite the efforts of the National Potato Council, our state partners, and our elected official allies, Japan continues to protect its potato industry’s monopoly and ignore the Biden Administration’s efforts to open this market
The much-anticipated U.S.-Japan bilateral meeting Sept. 17-19 in Idaho Falls on fresh potato access concluded last week with little progress made on the U.S. potato industry’s number one trade priority. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, negotiators from Japan refused again to provide the necessary documents to allow the process to move forward. Despite the efforts of the National Potato Council, our state partners, and our elected official allies, Japan continues to protect its potato industry’s monopoly and ignore the Biden Administration’s efforts to open this market.
“Rather than arguing technical points, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Farming, and Fisheries (MAFF) simply stalls at each formal meeting between the two governments, then waits a year to stall again,” said NPC CEO Kam Quarles. “Following last year’s negotiation in Tokyo, where the Japanese vaguely committed to ‘making progress’ on the issue, there has been no interaction between USDA and MAFF on the issue at all. That stalemate was punctuated again this year in Idaho, where there was no movement on the issue.”
“Adding to the heightened involvement by our elected leaders on the federal level, I want to thank Idaho Governor Brad Little for throwing his influence behind the effort,” said NPC VP of Legislative Affairs Dean Gibson. “During the bilateral, Governor Little joined the delegation for a tour of Idaho potato-growing operation, Wada Farms, to demonstrate the transparency by which the U.S. potato industry operates.”
Governor Little also announced he is leading an Idaho-based trade mission to Japan in November 2024, where he will continue to press for fair and open access to the fresh market.
