A plan for the Japanese government to subsidize the nation’s seafood and beef industries, in response to plummeting prices resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, has moved forward after debate.
The subsidies – in the form of zero-interest bank loans – will cover the purchase cost, storage, transportation, and handling of seafood products for which the price has fallen due to COVID-19.
The subsidies emerged out of a controversial idea to bolster the flagging Japanese beef industry with shopping vouchers. The outline of the original plan also called for the distribution of coupons for restaurant meals and for fresh flowers, two sectors struggling due to changing consumer behavior as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Not wanting to be left out of such narrowly targeted subsidies, Japan’s Fisheries Agency proposed the government also issue coupons for seafood.
But the proposal was criticized in the Japanese media on several grounds. Part of the original idea was to distribute wagyu beef to schools, but schools in most areas of Japan are still closed. Subsidies to farmers, based on the amount of beef shipped, were originally higher per kilogram than the price-drop. And editorials asked why just a few industries should get help when so many industries are in trouble – with the accusation that powerful politicians are favoring industries from their own constituencies, or those that financially support their campaigns.
In response, the original plan was pared back. In a document titled “Urgent Measures to Support Storage Inventory of Japanese Beef,” the government said it will pay cold storage fees and subsidize farmers’ sales, but only to the extent that the price has fallen.
For seafood, in a document titled, “Stabilizing the Seafood Supply Business (Urgent Response to the Novel Coronavirus Disease),” the government said it will spend nearly JPY 3.2 billion (USD 36.5 million, EUR 33.8 million) to provide zero-interest bank loans for fisheries groups, including fishery cooperative associations, to buy and store seafood. The transportation, handling, and cold storage fees will also be covered by the government.
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