of age. JA's rationale to perpetuate this structure is political. A group of 100 unproductive farmers translates into more votes in Diet elections, and thus serves JA's interests better than a group of 10 productive farmers. Reform Recently, there have been signs of change. Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's regulatory reform committee made an official proposal in November 2014 to undertake several reforms including removing power from JA Zenchu to audit and supervise local JA co-ops and convert Zen-Noh into a joint stock corporation. In July 2015, Akira Banzai, former president of Zenchu, was replaced by pro-reform Choe Okuno after an election that was widely believed to favor Toru Nakaya, a conservative who had support from many high-ranked JA officials. In October 2015, Japan concluded its TPP negotiations with 11 other member countries and made an important move towards reducing trade barriers to foreign agricultural products. References Agricultural cooperatives Cooperatives in Japan Agricultural organizations based in Japan