【News】 Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture getting prepared to accelerate intergovernmental discussions on quarantine for boosting exports of high quality fruits (March 7, 2017)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) plans to accelerate intergovernmental talks on quarantine, necessary conditions for increasing exports of agricultural products to foreign countries. With a view to facilitating exports particularly of fruits produced in Japan, MAFF takes steps to make preparations for the intergovernmental discussions by implementing demonstrative researches on effective quarantine measures in advance. Proposal on quarantine based on successful results of these demonstrations, MAFF expects, will be useful to shorten the duration of intergovernmental talks on quarantine conditions from a current average of nine years to six years. According to MAFF officials, lots of Japanese fruit producers do not like to have their … Continue reading

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【News】Try this new ancient-looking sweet gift from Chino, Nagano Prefecture! (March 1, 2017)

Many say they are too good to eat. They look exactly like the two national treasure “dogu” clay figurines produced during the Jomon Period and unearthed from Chino, Nagano Prefecture, but they are “yokan,” traditional Japanese sweet bean paste jellies, prepared by a long-established local confectioner based on the idea of local university students. The edible dogu are called “Kokuho Shio Yokan (National Treasure Salty Yokan)” and already popular. Baigetsu, the 90-year-old local confectioner, created the dogu-shaped yokan in two types: one in the shape of “Jomon no Venus (the Venus of Jomon)” and the other in the shape of “Kamen no Megami (the Masked Goddess)”. They are approximately 8 … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan’s radioactivity testing on farm products finds no single sample exceeding regulation values in fiscal 2016 to reassure consumers on food safety (March 4, 2017)

Fiscal 2016 inspections on radioactivity implemented by 17 prefectural governments in Japan did not found any samples of agricultural and livestock products contaminated above the regulation values set by the Government, which is the first time since the testing began in fiscal 2011, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced on March 3. These 17 governments continued to reveal the results of the inspections since fiscal 2011 when a disaster took place at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Company in Fukushima prefecture on March 11, 2011 due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. The latest results of the inspections have reassured consumers … Continue reading

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【News】 Bidding prices of rice imported under SBS continue to decline, raising concerns over negative impacts on domestic market (March 4, 2017)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) completed a series of imported rice tenders for fiscal 2016 on March 3 under its Simultaneous Buy and Sell system (SBS), which tenders were carried out six times in the year. Last year, the state-controlled SBS auctions attracted press coverages on alleged mispricing of imported rice deals with so-called “adjustment money” paid by trading firms to wholesalers and distributers in Japan. Although payments of “adjustment money” were banned since the second tender in fiscal 2016, major varieties of imported rice have been continuously bided at new low prices in five SBS tenders since the second one. According to MAFF, 44,766 tons of … Continue reading

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【News】The Blue Number registry system for farmers being slowly recognized in Japan (March 1, 2017)

The Blue Number Initiative, a global registry system created by a U.S.-based nonprofit organization for farmers working to build sustainable food supply chains, is slowly taking root in Japan, with ANA Holdings Inc. becoming the first Japanese company to join the campaign in January. The initiative, launched by the Blue Number Foundation headquartered in New York, provides farmers with a unique identification number which allows them to register and disclose globally information about their products, including how and where they are cultivated, whether they are organic or grown with reduced amount of agricultural chemicals and whether they are certified under the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) program. Such information could be … Continue reading

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