貿易自由化與日、韓、台之稻米政策

Trade Liberalization and the Rice Policy in Japan, Korea and Taiwan

日本與南韓自1995年前起承諾其稻米以最低進口量方式開放進口，台灣雖未加入WTO，但亦在中美雙邊談判中，承諾加入WTO後將如同日本模式開放稻米進口。惟日本於1999年卻宣稱其稻米進口改採關稅化方式。日本為何有此轉變？南韓、台灣是否也應追隨日本之改變？本文將分別從各國農業部門之結構特性，市場對進口米之反應，以及結構調整政策實施成效等方面分析此課題。文中亦探討政府決策之影響因子，其中糧食安全考量、對農民所得支持、及稻米耕作之環境與社會功能等，屬於具政治上重要性因子；而政府預算之分配與限制及稻米之品質考量等因子，則具經濟重要性。最後，我們亦提出幾項可供APEC及WTO會員國參考之政策建議。

In accordance with their WTO agreements on agriculture, Japan and Korea have fulfilled their minimum access rice import commitments since 1995. Taiwan, in its latest bilateral negotiations with the U.S., also committed to apply the minimum access scheme for rice imports once Taiwan is allowed to enter WTO. Recently, Japan decided to abandon the minimum market access scheme for rice imports and applied the tariffication scheme starting from April 1999. Why the Japanese government decided to accept tariffication and whether or not the Korean or Taiwanese government will follow in Japan's footsteps or will instead opt for the minimum access scheme for rice imports are interesting and complicated questions which deserve further investigation. This paper attempts to analyze these issues by examining the structure of the agricultural sector, market responses to rice imports, and the effects of adjustment policies on the three economies of Japan, Korea and Taiwan. In comparing policies between countries factors that affect policy makers' decisions are analyzed. Among these factors are such as food security concerns, income support to farmers and the environmental/social function of rice cultivation, all of which are politically important to citizens in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Governmental budget constraints and allocation, as well as the question of rice quality are economically important to policy makers. Finally, some policy recommendation for WTO or APEC member economies are put forward.