The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks between Philippines and Japan is impeded because Japan is reluctant to let caregivers and construction workers work in their country. Associations of Japanese nurses and construction workers have voiced out there concern of losing to Filipino counter parts.

A Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) panel on FTAs opposed the employment of non-Japanese workers with insufficient language skills to communicate with Japanese patients. Some have argued foreign doctors should be allowed to treat only patients of their own nationalities.

Yasunori Wada, deputy director of the health ministry's International Affairs Division, said it won’t abandon its two principles that foreign health care workers must be certified under Japanese law, and that their acceptance be limited so unemployed Japanese will still have more job opportunities.

Reports also say that Wada is apparently skeptical about the quality of services provided by people the Philippine government calls caregivers or nurses aides. Wada said he suspects the Philippines simply wants to dispatch semiskilled workers. The country has made labor export a national policy, he said.

Philippine Ambassador to Japan Domingo L. Siazon Jr defended that the Filipinos that will be sent for Japan will be highly skilled and trained nurses and nurses’ aide. He also assured that it will be required that they learn Japanese.

The government of Japan and private nursing associations has been discussing this matter and so far, there is still no news of where the discussion is heading.

Japan is negotiating with two other Association of Southeast Asian Nation countries on FTAs, namely the Thailand and Malaysia.