Category Archives: Food & Agriculture

【News】 Japanese government to help agricultural high schools to obtain certificate of Good Agricultural Practice (Feb. 25, 2017)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) jointly decided to mount a nationwide campaign to support agricultural high schools in getting international food certification of the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP). All of 306 agricultural high schools in Japan will be guided to aim at receiving the GAP certification in fiscal 2017. Foodstuffs that are to be used in meals served at athletes’ village of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics Games will be required to get GAP certified. And a number of people concerned with agriculture and food supplies have been growing their interests in the GAP system. … Continue reading

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【News】 WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement comes into force to boost annual global trade by one trillion dollars (Feb. 23, 2017)

A Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) come into effect on February 22, when the WTO obtained acceptances of its two-thirds member countries ratifying the pact which is needed to bring the TFA into force. TFA is the first multilateral deal concluded since the establishment of WTO in 1995. WTO’s officials expect that TFA will speed up procedures of custom clearance in member countries and boost global trade by up to 1 trillion dollars or 113 trillion yen each year thanks to promotion of global value chains. WTO now wishes to emphasize importance of its role to be played as a leading proponent of global free … Continue reading

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【News】New EU-standard beef production plant to double Miyazaki wagyu beef export by 2020(Feb. 17, 2017)

Miyazaki Prefecture will build a new Miyazaki beef production plant for export to the European Union, allocating JPY1.7 billion from its budget this year. The new plant to be built by the fiscal year 2018 will implement HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) system and animal welfare practices to meet the requirements for the export to the EU. The prefecture aims at boosting Miyazaki wagyu beef export to 400 tons, double the volume in the fiscal 2015, by entering the new market. Miyazaki Prefecuture will have a new and the first beef production plant that meets the EU standards. It will be operated by Miyachiku, a local beef production … Continue reading

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【News】 ZEN-NOH exercises experimental ocean shipment of fresh strawberries to Hong Kong with controlled atmosphere shipping container to cut transportation costs (Feb. 22, 2017)

ZEN-NOH (National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations), a national business organization of agricultural cooperatives based at Chiyoda ward, Tokyo, completed an experimental ocean shipment of 4,700 packs of fresh strawberries (averagely 200 grams per pack) to Hong Kong by February 22. These strawberries will be demonstrated at Japan’s Strawberry Fairs to be held there. ZEN-NOH has been seeking for a possibility of exporting Japanese strawberries to Hong Kong by sea. Staff members of ZEN-NOH will receive the shipment in Hong Kong and check hardness and shape of strawberry fruits as well as make a research on consumer trends at the Fairs. Ocean freight is much less than air freight, but … Continue reading

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【News】 Two hundred municipalities join campaign of reducing food loss in Japan (Feb. 21, 2017)

“A campaign for all food served to be eaten” is now spreading throughout Japan. A pioneer of the campaign is Fukui prefecture which launched a movement of “Eat all foods to be served!” in 2006. As many as 1,239 restaurants and retail shops joined the campaign against the food loss in the Fukui prefecture by selling smaller portions of dishes and small-sized packs of foods to consumers. The campaign has become common among the people of the prefecture. Nagano prefecture followed Fukui by promoting a similar campaign of reducing food waste in 2010. According to a survey conducted by the Nagano Prefectural Government, an average amount of general waste per … Continue reading

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