Japan's First and Second Basic Plan on Ocean Policy and the Government Annual Reports; Considering the Formation of the Third Basic Plan on Ocean Policy

Basic Act on Ocean Policy, enacted in 2007, describes in Article 16, (5), that “Bearing in mind the changes on the situation with regard to the oceans, as well as based on an evaluation of the effect of measures with regard to the oceans, the Government shall review the Basic Plan on Ocean Policy almost every five years, and shall make necessary changes.” So, as everyone in the Japanese ocean-related communities recognizes that the Third Basic Plan on Ocean Policy is to be authorized by the Cabinet in March/April 2018. To do so, The Advisory Council for the National Headquarters for Ocean Policy, with its Sub-committee and three Project Teams, has been executed their intensive discussion to make up their report, what should be included in the next Basic Plan on Ocean Policy, to the Director-General of the Headquarters for Ocean Policy, namely the Prime Minister. Chair of the Advisory Council handed out its report to the Prime Minister on 18
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December 2017. The First Basic Plan on Ocean Policy was determined in 2008, and five years later, current Second Basic Plan was determined in 2013. Naturally, some changes of the contents were made between them. Also, the Government Annual Report had been publicized in each following fiscal year, showing what kind of political measures had been done on each policy identified in the five-year Basic Plan. But we must pay attention to the phrase of the Act, “Bearing in mind the change on the situation” and “evaluation of the effect of measures with regard to the oceans”. While the changes to the situation with regard to the oceans have often been publicized in the Government Annual Reports and while Councilors' Meeting reports sometimes pointed out the necessity to do so, there are few documents on the evaluation of the effectiveness of measures implemented with regard to the oceans. According to the paper by a study group headed by the author appeared in the Journal of Japan Society of Ocean Policy No.7, issued in November 2017, the Government Annual Reports sometimes included no description for several policies listed in the Basic Plan on Ocean Policy, and also it was difficult to understand the policies continuity, the priorities, and whether or not the policies were newly started. So, the author, with other colleagues of the study group, tried to make suggestions and proposal that the Government Annual Report should be treated as an important document for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures being implemented by the Government and further proposes that the Councilors' Meeting might be the responsible body to perform such evaluation. Then, author examined and re-confirmed the differences between the First and Second Basic Ocean Plan and discussed what would be desirable to be included in the Third Basic Plan on Ocean Policy.