Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

Exports of “Wagyu” beef to the United States have been increasing in the first quarter of 2017 at a faster pace well above that in the same period of the previous year when the export to U.S. hit an annual record. Demands for the Wagyu beef are continuously growing among many high-class restaurants in U.S. cities. It is expected that exports of Japanese beef to U.S. will surely exceed its country-specific low-tariff quota on Japanese beef of 200 tons before the end of 2017. A tariff of 4.4 cent per one kg, equivalent to an ad valorem tax of 0.06 percent, is imposed to Japanese beef imported through the low-tariff … Continue reading →

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has discovered through recent investigation that numerous counterfeit Japanese food products of well-known brands are sold overseas, including Yubari melons made in Thailand and Kobe beef made in Australia. Because such false use of geographical indications can hamper exports of Japanese food products, the ministry is stepping up efforts to sign mutual GI protection agreements with foreign governments so that they can crack down on them abroad. In its first attempt to grasp the situation, between September and November last year the ministry searched in major online shopping sites worldwide for 14 major products registered and publicly announced as GIs in Japan. In … Continue reading →

The Government of Japan set up a new organization named “Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center” or JFOODO on April 1 for the purpose of strengthening its promotion activities to boost exports of agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products. Campaigns for sales promotion of Japanese foods have been carried out mostly in such forms as trade fairs and business talk events, which have not necessarily been successful in achieving adequate results of publicity activities for overseas consumers, because those campaigns were independently organized by the national government and respective local administrations. JFOODO’s new strategy will put a higher priority on effective sales promotion particularly by organizing publicity activities to provide … Continue reading →

Yuji Yamamoto, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, told the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of the House of Representatives on March 29 that he is ready to bring a complain at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against countries and regions imposing import restrictions on Japanese foods following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant of TEPCO that occurred subsequent to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. “We will consider filing a complaint at WTO against governments of foreign countries restricting imports of Japanese foods on the basis of non-scientific grounds,” Minister Yamamoto said. The Agricultural Minister told the Committee members that … Continue reading →

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan made an announcement on March 29 on new labeling standards for categorizing Japanese rice flour according to its utility into three classifications; namely rice flour for cakes, rice flour for bread and rice flour for noodle. MAFF is aiming at stimulating new demand for the rice flour by introducing the new labeling standards making it possible for consumers to select rice flour suitable for their use. Under the new labeling system, classification of rice flour is based on amylose content. High amylose content makes end-product quality hard, while low amylose content tends to make that soft. Rice flour manufacturers will be … Continue reading →