January 19, 2007

China and Japan make progress on resuming rice and poultry trade

China and Japan have made "positive" progress in resolving problems that have halted rice and poultry trade between the two countries, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said Friday (Jan 19).

At issue are Japan's rice exports to China and the latter's fresh poultry exports to Japan.

In principle, the two nations have agreed on China resuming imports of Japanese rice, Kyodo News Agency quoted Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka as saying Thursday.

China had been importing rice from Japan but imposed a ban in early 2003 after finding insects in Japanese rice shipments.

In January 2004, Japan banned poultry imports from China due to the outbreak of bird flu in China, but resumed imports of cooked poultry and poultry products from China in April that year, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

However, Japan continues to ban fresh and frozen poultry imports from China.

China exported a total of 92,000 tonnes of fresh and processed poultry to Japan in 2002, according to the website of International Business Daily published by the Ministry of Commerce.

The two countries aim to solve the trade problems in agricultural products between them, according to a statement published on the administration's website.

Both sides have also reached agreements on establishing a consultative mechanism and strengthening cooperation on quality inspection and quarantine, said the statement.