First step to an 'open door'

日比自由貿易協定の意味

Japan concluded its first FTA, with Singapore, in 2002. Besides the Philippines, Japan is seeking to sign a similar pact with three other nations at an early date: Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea. Progress in these talks will give momentum to Tokyo's fledgling FTA strategy.

The latest accord, reached at a meeting between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Vientiane, Laos, on Nov. 29 has two main objectives: To remove or reduce barriers to trade and investment between the two nations; and open the Japanese labor market to selected Philippine workers.

In the area of trade, the main sticking point has been imports of agricultural and fishery products to Japan. Rice — the most sensitive product for Japan — has been excluded from the negotiations. However, compromise has been reached on other products such as sugar and tuna. How to treat farm and marine products is a difficult question in FTA talks with the other three nations.

As for labor-market liberalization, Philippine nurses and lawyers will be allowed to work in Japan provided that they pass the Japanese government's qualifying examinations. Successful applicants will be issued special visas, which may be renewed every three years.

The number of workers to be accepted — a key point of negotiation — has yet to be determined. What is clear is that Japan is beginning to adopt an "open-door" labor policy for skilled workers from East Asian nations. The accord with the Philippines marks the first step in this direction.

However, strings are attached to employment. This is true particularly of nurses, whose entry has been opposed by Japanese nursing groups and other related domestic interests. To work in Japan, Philippine nurses will have to get the Japanese license, meaning that the license they obtained back home will not be recognized here.

Passing the qualifying test won't be easy because it will be given in Japanese. Nurses will be required to study the language for six months after their entry. They will have to undergo on-the-job training to qualify for the license. Official development assistance funds are likely to be used for the language program.

In August 1999, the government made it clear in a basic employment plan that Japan would promote foreign employment in "specialized and technical areas." In the case of manual workers, though, the plan called for a "careful approach based on national consensus," since their employment would have "profound effects" on Japan's economy and society.

Thailand is requesting that its massagers be allowed to work in Japan, but the government regards them as manual workers. It is likely, though, that Japan will have to face up to the issue of employing foreign manual workers and others in its FTA talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which are expected to begin in April.

According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, there were 790,000 foreign workers in Japan at the end of March 2003. The survey indicates that the number of unskilled foreign workers had increased over several years and that many of them had taken up permanent residence here. In light of these realities, as well as requests for labor-market liberalization from Asian countries, it is about time to review the 1999 guidepost that divides foreign workers into specialists and laborers.

Japan has reason to speed up its FTA talks with the Philippines and other nations. China is moving toward signing an FTA with ASEAN before Japan. If Japan falls behind China in this race, it could face considerable difficulties in expanding trade and investment in East Asia.

FTAs, however, should complement, not counteract, the WTO round, as the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Santiago, Chile, said in a ministerial statement. The challenge for Japan is to promote multilateral liberalization while strengthening bilateral partnerships.

The Japan Times Weekly
Dec. 11, 2004
(C) All rights reserved

      小泉首相とアロヨ比大統領がラオス・ビエンチャンの首脳会談で締結に合意した日比自由貿易協定は、両国間の貿易・投資の障壁を除去し、日本の労働市場を特定分野のフィリピン人専門職労働者に開放する目的を持っている。

      協定締結により、比看護師、弁護士は日本の国家試験に合格すれば、3年ごとに更新可能な特別ビザの発給で、日本での就労が許される。しかし試験は日本語で行われるので、合格は容易ではない。

      政府は1999年に、外国人専門職、技術職労働者の雇用促進計画を発表、非熟練労働者については、国内経済、社会に大きな影響があるとして、国民の合意に基づき慎重に取り扱うこととした。

      タイは同国出身のマッサージ師に日本の労働市場を開放するよう求めているが、政府はマッサージ師を非熟練労働者とみなしている。

      しかし、来年4月から始まるASEAN諸国との自由貿易協定交渉では、非熟練外国人労働者の雇用問題は避けて通れない。

      厚生労働省によれば、03年3月現在、日本で働く外国人労働者は79万人にのぼっており、このうち非熟練労働者の数が近年増えているという。このような現状をふまえ、1999年制定の外国人労働者導入に関する指針を見直す必要がある。

      日本は、アジア諸国との自由貿易協定交渉を迅速化する必要がある。中国は、日本に先んじてASEAN諸国と自由貿易協定を締結する構えである。日本が遅れを取れば、東アジアで貿易・投資を拡大するのに困難が予想される。

自由貿易協定はWTOの新ラウンド貿易交渉を補完すべきであって、妨害すべきではない。日本の課題は、二国間の協力関係を強化しながら、多角的自由化を促進することである。