Category Archives: Farm Policy

Japan’s meat imports in first half hit a record high in 20 years

TOKYO, July 28 ― Japan’s meat imports in the first half of 2018 broke the 1 million metric ton barrier for the first time in 20 years, as consumers tend to satisfy their growing demand through more cheap imports, data has showed. Imports of red meat and poultry rose 2% to 1.02 million metric tons in the January-June period from the same period a year earlier, the finance ministry said on July 27. That import figure was the highest since records began in 1988, except in 1996 when the country’s meat tariffs were reduced by the Uruguay Round agreement. By product, both pork and chicken imports marked a record high … Continue reading

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Japan to accept more foreign workers by creating new visa

TOKYO, July 25 ― Japan is finally set to make a further step to tackle for its chronical labor shortage: accepting more low-skilled foreign workers. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told labor-related ministers to speed up plans that bring in more low-skilled foreign workers to Japan at a July 24 meeting. Agriculture Minister Ken Saito attended the meeting. In June, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, chaired by Abe, approved a set of labor policy. That includes creating a new working visa status for non-professional foreign workers in five sectors by April 2019. The five sectors, which have been suffering from chronic labor shortage, are farming, construction, accommodations, ship-building and … Continue reading

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Hong Kong eases post-Fukushima ban on some Japanese food

TOKYO, July 21 ― Hong Kong is set to relax some import restrictions that have been in place on Japanese foods following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, according to the Japanese government. From July 24, Hong Kong will resume imports of fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy products from four prefectures neighboring area of Fukushima, on condition that they pass radiation tests, Japan’s agriculture ministry said. The move comes after the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March backed a Japanese complaint against South Korea’s import ban on seafood as well as additional testing requirements on agricultural foods. In the wake of the earthquake and nuclear disaster in 2011, like South Korea … Continue reading

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Japan’s ruling LDP trade chief rejects to enter FTA talk with US

TOKYO, Aug. 1 ― Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) trade chairman has said the upcoming ministerial-level trade talks with the U.S. should not lead to a free trade negotiation between the two. “It is important that this dialogue should not become preliminary talks on launching official free trade negotiations between Japan and the U.S.,” Hiroshi Moriyama, chairman of the LDP’s Diet Affairs Committee, told the Japan Agriculture News in an interview. Moriyama is also the chairman of the party’s internal trade task force, which deals with the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). “With the TPP, Japan granted significant concessions for agricultural products as much … Continue reading

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Japan’s ruling LDP presses gov’t not to enter trade talk with US

TOKYO, July 20 ― Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has called for not entering trade negotiations with the U.S., as Tokyo is set to hold its first bilateral trade talks with Washington on Aug. 9. The LDP’s internal trade task force, which deals with the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), submitted a resolution to Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on July 19. The party emphasized in the resolution that it would not accept for the government to offer Washington the same level of market access that Tokyo promises in the TPP deal. In April, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to … Continue reading

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