First Meeting of Japan – U.S. Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture (February 1, 2024)

On February 1, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan and the U.S. Department of Agriculture held the first meeting of Japan – U.S. Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture in Tokyo. Both sides exchanged information on their efforts on climate-smart agriculture to address various challenges to achieving sustainable agriculture, and discussed future collaborations between them.

1．Date and Venue

Date : February 1 , 2024
Venue: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan

2．Participants

＜Japan＞
Masayoshi MIZUNO (Director General for Export and International Affairs Bureau,
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) and others

＜the United States＞
Elaine TREVINO (Associate Administrator for the Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture) and others

3．Overview of the Results

The overview of the meeting is as follows:
1.Both sides discussed their tools for measurement of the reduction of GHG emissions and how to communicate
the results of the reduction with stakeholders. They also discussed their latest situation of research and
development in the field of agricultural biotechnology such as genome editing. Japanese side introduced
progress of the initiatives implemented in accordance with “MIDORI Strategy”, visualization(“MIERUKA”) of
farmers’ efforts on GHG reduction, and the situation of research and development of genome
editing technology.
2.Both sides confirmed that they would cooperate with each other for organizing joint side events and
advocating the results of discussion on GHG measurement and genome editing jointly on the occasion of
international meetings such as APEC and COP29, which will be held later this year. Both sides also agreed to
hold the Second Dialogue meeting this year in the United States.

The following day on February 2, participants exchanged opinions with Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, AgVenture Lab, and National Agriculture and Food Research Organization for the purpose of understanding initiatives and advanced practices toward sustainable agriculture in Japan. Furthermore, participants made site visits to Sanatech Life Science Co., Ltd and the University of Tsukuba to learn about innovative technologies of genome editing in Japan.