Japan helps meat producers to meet EU’s residue standards

TOKYO, Dec. 27 — Japan has stepped up efforts to make conditions for sanitary certification of livestock farms producing pork and poultry to meet requirements for exporting to the EU market.

The government earmarked 400 million yen to facilitate agricultural exports in a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year ending in March 2018.

The agriculture ministry will use the financial support for meat producers to test whether their samples have pesticide residues in excess of the EU’s allowable limits.

The move coincides with the timing of Tokyo and Brussels aim to bring the trade agreement into effect in early 2019.

Through the agreement, the EU will scrap tariffs on all the Japanese agricultural food products — including meat — at the time of implementation.

Brussels currently allows only Japanese wagyu beef access to the EU market.

Conditions related to the EU residue monitoring system have effectively blocked export opportunities for Japanese pork and poultry to the market because some of veterinary drugs used in rearing them have no regulations around them in the EU.

The same thing goes with Japanese food additives.

Japanese food makers have faced challenges when there is no regulation for their food additives in the EU market. They must prove their products are safe through costly private risk assessment.

The EU applies stricter measures on minimum pesticide residue levels in food and water, if such chemicals do not full within regulations in the EU market, Japanese officials say.

Following the trade agreement, the EU has been evaluating Japan’s controls on residues and contaminants in live animals and animal products eligible for export to the EU.

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