Committee for Agriculture (COAG) Mr. Tetsuo Ushikusa
1. What is the mission and mandate of your Committee? The overarching objective of the Committee is to help Members and Partners to define and implement the integrated policy approaches needed to underpin competitive, sustainable, productive and resilient farm and food businesses. The Committee for Agriculture is among the major Policy Committees of the OECD. It provides a forum for Member governments to address common problems, exchange experience and encourage cooperation on new approaches to policies. The Committee generally meets twice a year and comprises senior officials responsible for agricultural policies in Member governments. From time to time, the Committee for Agriculture meets at High Level or at Ministerial Level in order to provide further impetus to the process of agricultural reform. The Committee for Agriculture is assisted by Working Parties (ag-trade, ag-environment, ag policies & markets) and a Commodity Working Group, which deal with the detailed design and implementation of specific aspects of its work. The Global Forum on Agriculture promotes a two-way policy dialogue and the sharing of knowledge with non-OECD countries. Expert workshops and seminars are also organised regularly on special themes and topics. 2. You have been designated Committee Chair. What is your background and what has convinced you to take up this post? How do you consider your background and experience contribute to such a role and function? In my youth I spent two years as a trainee at the then OECD Agriculture Directorate and three years in the Permanent Delegation of Japan at the OECD, which taught me a wide variety of approaches and instruments in agriculture policies depending on the natural, economic and social conditions of countries. Since then I have been engaged in various agricultural trade and environmental negotiations including WTO Agriculture, TPP and RCEP, as well as WTO Fisheries Subsidies and various negotiations related to climate change and bio-diversity. I have also been involved in domestic agricultural policy making in the Ministry on such areas as food security, farm management and food industry. After completeing my role as the Chair of G20 Niigata Agriculture Deputies in 2019, I thought my background and experience may be of use in serving as the Chair of COAG in deepning discussion and fostering mutual understanding among Members and Partners. 3. What is your main priority as Chair? Each country wants its agriculture sector to flourish, but those interests sometimes conflict each other. My priority is to foster frank discussion among participating countries in order to explore the most effective and efficient way, both from taxpayers’ and consumers’ points of view and from the global point of view, based on data and evidence, to achieve productive, sustainable and resilient food and agriculture supply chains, at the same time mindful of the specific situation of countries.
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