jr-144 (pdf) Japan Resources No 144 On a hot day in July we finished compiling the latest issue of Japan Resources. Many articles about our consumer activities, the large peace conference to support Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution, the trip to the Planet Diversity Conference in Germany and the campaign to keep Australia GMO-free. – Editors CONTENTS: About Food Mileage Book Review: Another Japan is Possible Global Article 9 Declaration to Abolish War Evaluate the Food Safety Commission before Establishing a Consumer Agency Yes to Non-GMO Feed No to GMO Sugar Beet Crops Report from the Planet Diversity Conference in Bonn, Germany Tokyo Actions Against the G8 Meeting
Tokyo Actions against the G8 summit
The G8 summit will be held in Hokkaido, Japan. On July 7-9, head of states from just eight of the world’s countries will gather together at Lake Toya. There they will make decisions on the future in the world, protected by the police and military. While the Japanese government welcomes the summit, many people who are dissatisfied with the decisions plan various actions against the summit. Opposing the summit, NGOs are organizing actions against the summit. This event will take place in Tokyo on June 28-29, 2008. G8 Action Network (English) We welcome the opportunity to collaborate in actions with people who tackle with issues of poverty, labor, discrimination, war,…
Report from the Planet Diversity Conference in Bonn, Germany
Consumers Union of Japan participated together with other Japanese NGOs at the large Planet Diversity conference in Bonn, Germany on May 12-16, 2008. It was a global congress on the future of food and agriculture, with a demonstration to celebrate biodiversity. At the rally, anti-GMO activists including Percy Schmeiser and Vandana Shiva spoke to the 6,000 people who gathered from all over Germany and other countries for the event. At the workshops, participants discussed plant and livestock diversity, building knowledge around biodiversity, and key issues of the official biosafety negotiations held later in May. Koketsu Michiyo from CUJ participated in the workshop on health impacts of GMOs organised by the…
Evaluate the Food Safety Commission!
Japan does not have any equivalent to the US Food and Drug Administration, and there is no Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs like in the European Union. Yet, recent events have shown that food safety is a huge concern among consumers in Japan. The independent watchdog, Food Safety Citizens’ Watch meets regularly and discusses important topics. As Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced that the Government would establish a consumer agency, the FSCW wants to point out that there has been no proper evaluation of the roles played by Japan’s Food Safety Commission and the Fundamental law for food safety in protecting the citizens’ health and guaranteeing the safety of…
Global Article 9 Declaration to Abolish War
Ms. Yoko Tomiyama, CUJ’s veteran activist and chairperson, participated in the huge Global Article 9 conference at Makuhari, Chiba on May 4-6, 2008. A Declaration (pdf) was adopted by participants of the Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War, endorsed by Nobel Peace Laureates Mairead Maguire, Jody Williams, and by the Nobel Women’s Peace Initiative. To read all the outcome documents of the Conference, click here. Global Article 9 Conference Statement (pdf) towards the Non-Proliferation Treaty PrepCom meeting in Geneva, Switzerland (April 28 – May 9, 2008) Global Article 9 Conference Statement to the G8 Summit (pdf) taking place in July 2008 in Hokkaido, Japan under Japanese presidency This three-day…