Japan and Russia have begun talks on lifting of Japanese import ban on Russian forage in order to stabilize supplies of forage to Japanese livestock farmers, Yuji Yamamoto, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), said at a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councilors on January 31.
The Japanese Government has been banning imports of forage produced in Russia because Russia is one of the countries that have experienced outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
However, MAFF is now planning to approve imports of Russian forage if the two Governments can make an agreement on quarantine requirements to prevent the spread of FMD.
In late January, Russian exporters of the livestock forage requested the Japanese Government to lift the ban, since the two Governments had agreed to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation at a Japan-Russia summit meeting held last December in Japan.
Those trading firms are interested in providing Japanese livestock farmers with forage produced particularly in Russian Maritime Provinces facing the Sea of Japan.
MAFF’s Minister Yamamoto took a positive attitude toward lifting the import ban, saying “We can ensure a steady supply of forage for livestock farmers in the country by diversifying our import sources of the feed material.”
Minister Yamamoto reiterated that it will be indispensable for Russia to appropriately take border quarantine measures against infectious livestock diseases, including heat treatment of forage, in order to begin exporting their forage to Japan.