28 July 2008
Dear Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda,

Request for emergency measures on the steep rise of prices ofnecessities of life such as crude oil and foodPrices of crude oil and food have continued to rise steeply, dealing a blow to thelives of working people in Japan.
An increasing number of people believe that the Japanese economy faces afurther slowdown, and there is concern that there will be further pressure on thelivelihoods of poor households.
While the government has adopted measures against the steep rise of the pricesof crude oil and other commodities, RENGO strongly demands the following
emergency measures in particular.
Measures to be implemented urgently
1. Consider implementing an income tax reduction focusing on middle- andlow-income people and establishing a subsidy system for poor households inorder to mitigate the fall of real income caused by the steep rise of the prices
of crude oil and food.
2. Review livelihood assistance standards and improve the application
acceptance system for livelihood protection, etc. As an emergency measureduring the period before the completion of the review is finished, an amountequivalent to recent price increases (about 3%) should be added to thelivelihood assistance standard with funds provided by the government.
3. Ensure proper preparation for the implementation of a “welfare heating oilsystem” to provide a subsidy equivalent to the increase in heating oil prices topoor households and implement measures to counter the steep rise of thecrude oil price in anticipation of the arrival of winter. The necessary funds
should be provided by the government.
4. Freeze the “temporarily” raised tax rate for the gasoline excise tax etc. inFY2008 and abolish it from FY2009.
5. Consider support measures such as distributing the national oil reserve, which
was accumulated at low prices, to small- and medium-sized companies andsubcontractors that are suffering a major squeeze on profits as they use large

1amounts of crude oil, but are unable to pass on the effects of the price rise. In
the medium- and long-term, increase the reserve to the level of the last 365
days.
6. Ensure that laws such as the Anti-Monopoly Act and Subcontracting Act areobserved and that guidance toward industry based on fair trade guidelines isfollowed in order to allow small- and medium-sized companies to pass on theeffect of the price rise properly.
Measures for the stabilization of prices
7. Endeavor to increase crude oil production and lower international prices bystrengthening the relationship with oil producing countries and throughinternational cooperation. Ensure the thorough recycling and reuse ofproducts based on consideration for the environment and strongly promoteenergy- and resource-saving measures and subsidy measures in order toreduce the consumption of goods such as oil.
8. Increase the production and consumption of domestic agricultural and fisheryproducts by promoting the domestic agricultural and fishery industry as wellas the idea of local production and local consumption in order to improve thefood self-sufficiency rate. Adopt the concept of “food mileage” and realize afood policy that take the environment into consideration leading to anincrease of consumption of domestic agricultural products.
9. The Japanese government should take leadership in the area of international
regulation of speculative money such as hedge funds, strengtheninternational information supervision, and secure the transparency of themarket. Seek, at the same time, stable and appropriate foreign exchange
rates.

Tsuyoshi TAKAGI
President
JTUC-RENGO (Japanese Trade Union Confederation)2