Under these agreements, Japanese insurance companies are prohibited from entering Japan's third sector (or specialty insurance market) until certain liberalization measures have been adopted to promote competition in the primary sectors of property and casualty insurance. Certain U.S. insurance companies, however, charge that Japanese insurers have already entered the third sector prior to implementation of the agreed upon deregulatory measures. Specifically, they have protested the third sector activities of Yasuda Fire and Marine, a Japanese company that presently owns a small percentage of INA-Himawari, a subsidiary of the U.S. firm CIGNA which operates in third sector.
Representatives Mac Collins (R-Georgia) and Sonny Callahan (R-Alabama) both proposed amendments earlier this month to cut USTR's budget if USTR did not take further action to assess whether Yasuda's activities constitute a violation of the insurance agreements. After consultations with USTR (which apparently included meetings between members of Congress and USTR Barshefsky and Deputy USTR Richard Fisher), Collins decided to withdraw his amendment in return for Barshefsky's commitment to launch an investigation.
Late last week, however, Barshefsky announced that the interagency review team formed to probe Yasuda's activities found no evidence of violations of the U.S.-Japan Insurance Agreement.
In her letter to Rep. Collins informing him of the task force's findings, Barshefsky said the Administration would continue to scrutinize compliance with the agreement and would enforce its provisions. Furthermore, she said the interagency team, which includes officials from USTR and the Departments of Commerce, Labor, State and Treasury, would travel to Japan in the coming months for consultations with Japanese officials on the Insurance Agreement.