Japan’s state-trade system of butter and skimmed milk imports will be revised in fiscal 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced on January 27.
In past years, MAFF made a decision three times in a year on how much Japan should import butter and other dairy products on the basis of the latest figures of demand and supply.
This existing import system will be replaced by a new program in fiscal year 2017, under which MAFF makes a decision once a year in principle on a bulk quantity of annual imports of dairy products by estimating import requirements on the basis of past records on demand and supply.
MAFF introduces the new system aiming at enabling end users of dairy products to take steps necessary for stable supplies particularly of butter, which has repeatedly fallen short in the domestic market recent years, by getting an accurate grasp of annual imports before the fiscal year starts.
Under this system, MAFF plans to import respectively 13,000 tons of butter and 13,000 tons of skim milk powder for the fiscal year 2017.
On behalf of MAFF, Agriculture & Livestock Industries Corporation (ALIC) or a state trade enterprise of dairy products supplies imported products to local markets in a stable manner by holding an open bid every month.
The Japanese Government checks the balance of demand and supply in May and September every year. When the tight supply-demand situation is forecasted due to a shortage of imports, MAFF will make a judgement on additional imports of dairy products.