TOKYO, April 18 — Strong sales of Japanese wagyu beef to the U.S. have made exporters use up tariff rate quota (TRQ) in April, triggering a 26.4 percent out-of-quota tariff rate on exports into the U.S. Japan reached its 200 metric tons of U.S. annual TRQ as of April 10, according to data released by the United States Customs and Border Protection. The volume more than doubled, compared with 70 metric tons in April a year earlier. Last year, wagyu beef exports filled the quota in June. Once Japan hit the quota limit, the U.S. tariff on Japanese beef imports will rise to a 26.4 percent tariff of the export … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 14 — Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has heard from farm exporters requesting to remove trade restrictions related to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster imposed on Japanese agricultural products. The LDP’s committee that deals with agricultural exports held a meeting on April 13. It brought stakeholders interested in farm exporting to the table to help the committee focus on the issues. This time, it included Sankyomeat, a subsidiary of Itoham Foods Ind., Japan’s largest wagyu exporter. During the meeting, a Sankyomeat official pointed out that Taiwan lifted bans on imports of Japanese beef last year, but the country still keeps restriction measures in place on produce from … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 10 — Taishu Soba of Tsushima, off Nagasaki prefecture in southern Japan is among the latest three products that have been granted the nation’s geographical indications (GIs). Japan has its own GI system to guarantee the protected status of food products. It aims to help farmers to differentiate their products from competing products and build a reputation of quality that is linked to the geographical origin. Besides Taishu Soba, Matsudate Shibori Daikon in Akita prefecture and Yamagata Celery got GI registration, the agriculture ministry said on April 9. The Japanese GI system now protects 62 products from 35 regions, according to the ministry. The infringement of GI products … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 17 – Increasing efforts are recently seen in regional areas to promote local farm produce to tourists from abroad, such as taking over the troublesome quarantine procedure for fruits or setting up a store which sells inspected farm produce at airports. Because quarantine requirements vary by country, providers of such services are seeking ways to promote local produce that respond to different needs. Starfood Japan Co., a branding agency in the city of Wakayama which offer support to market local produce, began in 2017 the service of taking over the quarantine procedure for foreign travelers at Kansai International Airport so that they can take back home fruits grown … Continue reading →

TOKYO, April 15 – The transport ministry has been working on spreading services to allow foreign tourists travel without having to carry their luggage. By setting up counters at roadside rest areas and farmers’ markets to offer temporary storage and delivery services for luggage, the government hopes tourists will be encouraged to purchase more farm produce and local specialties, thus expanding business opportunities for farm coops and agricultural corporations which operate markets and tourism farms. The ministry began designating operators of “hands-free travel” services in 2015 and the number of such operators reached 222 as of the end of March. Counters are being set up not only in major airports … Continue reading →