Browse Data and Analysis

On May 19, Japan's Diet approved the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries proposed revisions to the Agricultural Export Facilitation Act. The revisions allow product-specific industry groups to implement check-off systems and establishes a new fund to extend low-interest and long-term loans to producers, manufacturers and distributors to promote exports.

On April 22, 2022, Japan launched a public-private partnership to facilitate the introduction of an international competitive supply chain for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

On April 26, 2022, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries designated mackerel, Pacific saury, sardine, squid and cuttlefish as vulnerable to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. From December 1, 2022, Japan will require catch certificates to import products containing these species as a main ingredient.

On April 26, the Japanese Cabinet approved a 6.2 trillion yen ($48 billion) emergency economic package to mitigate the effect of surging energy and food prices on households and small businesses.

This report details the strong demand for U.S. Tree Nut products, driven by the growing health-oriented trends among Japanese consumers. In 2021, fresh and dried nut imports to Japan totaled $491 million, of which 78.2 percent or approximately $384 million was from the United States.

On April 1, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced tariff-rate quota (TRQ) volumes for dairy products that will be open during Japanese Fiscal Year (JFY) 2022 (April to March). The announcement includes quotas for...

The 2021 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world.

The U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement (USJTA), which entered into force on January 1, 2020, improved market access for U.S. products through the creation of tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for food wheat, wheat products, malt, processed cheese, whey, glucose and fructose, potato starch, corn starch, and inulin.

The Japanese government announced they would reduce planned imports of butter to 7,600 metric tons (MT) in Japanese fiscal year (JFY) 2022 from 9,500 MT in the previous year while maintaining nonfat dry milk imports at 750 MT.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) proposed revisions to Japan’s maximum residue levels for 11 agricultural chemicals (Afidopyropen, Cyantraniliprole, Tetraniliprole, Picoxystrobin, Flufenoxuron, Pencycuron, Cyfluthrin, Ampicillin, Phenoxymethylpenicillin, Lubabegron, and Bacitracin) for various agricultural commodities.

In MY 2021/22, profit margins of Japanese soybean crushing surpassed those of canola crushing. Meanwhile, as hotel, restaurant, and institutional service industries (HRI) began to recover from the effects of the COVID pandemic, demand for soybean oil spiked as canola oil demand dropped with less home cooking than during the peak crisis period.

On April 1, 2022, processed food manufactures in Japan must be in compliance with new country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements. The new rule requires Japanese food manufacturers to identify on the label of the product the country(ies) where the main ingredient, by weight, was harvested or produced.