Japanese cabinet urges relaxation of export ban

Japan's long-standing military exports ban should be relaxed to allow the country's defence industry to participate in international collaboration programmes, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on 27 August.

The panel, which was established by cabinet earlier this year to provide recommendations for Japan's national defence policy, also said the government needs to overhaul the exclusively defensive strategy of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) while encouraging the SDF to play a greater role in international peacekeeping operations.

The panel's report, a copy of which has been obtained by Jane's , states that defence co-operation and assistance "should be carried out under a new set of principles superseding export prohibition under the Three Principles ban on arms exports".

It said: "Japan's domestic defence production and technology infrastructure are trapped in [a] vicious cycle of small-scale procurement, high-cost production and decreased investment. To remedy this, the Japanese government - in consultation with private sectors - should promote selection and concentration in the fields of production and technology that are sustained in Japan."