Japan’s agriculture ministry wants to set clear standards for passing on farming costs into the prices of rice and vegetables. It will set up a panel of experts to come up with recommendations.
The move reflects a spike in fertilizer, fuel and labor costs for growing and delivering agricultural produce, but without set criteria for reflecting those higher costs in prices.
The panel will investigate the current trading system and propose measures to improve it.
Another panel has discussed the same issues for products such as milk and tofu. These items are often sold at bargain prices in supermarkets.
Wholesalers say the issue should be handled with care as the setting of prices needs to also consider demand.