The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on Friday, Feb. 28, that Japan’s beef exports to New Zealand will be allowed for the first time.
The ministry, which ended bilateral negotiations with New Zealand on quarantine treatments, said getting permission to export beef to the nation with stringent quarantine standards gives Japan an opportunity to highlight the high quality of Japanese beef to other countries and further increase exports.
In exporting beef to New Zealand, it is necessary to have a health certificate issued by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to certify that the meat is processed at facilities which treat meat exported to the United States and the European Union.
Japan is also required to maintain its foot-and-mouth-disease free status, and beef to be exported to New Zealand should derive from cattle born and raised in Japan. There are no age limits.
(March 1, 2014)