Abe turns to TPP trade talks veteran to lead farm ministry

Tokyo

PRIME Minister Shinzo Abe tapped a veteran of regional trade talks as his new agriculture minister as Japan seeks to wrap up an agreement this year that will require wringing concessions from the country's powerful farm lobby.

Mr Abe re-appointed Yoshimasa Hayashi as farm minister just five months after he was replaced in the job by Koya Nishikawa, who quit on Monday following assertions he took donations from a company in the sugar industry. His alleged misdemeanour would have been in conflict with his role in negotiations over agricultural tariffs in Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks.

The government on Tuesday played down the impact of the third resignation of a cabinet member in less than six months on TPP talks and Mr Abe's drive to reform the agriculture sector. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday that he wasn't conc…