Ban on Raw Egg Exports from Japan to U.S. Lifted

October 17, 2018

Tokyo- A ban on raw chicken egg exports from Japan to the United States was lifted on Tuesday, the Japanese agriculture ministry said.

Conditions include having the eggs refrigerated at a temperature of no more than 7.2 degrees Celsius during transportation to the United States, the ministry said.

The ministry hopes that Japanese eggs will become popular in the United States as ingredients for tamagoyaki rolled omelet, sukiyaki and other dishes served at Japanese restaurants.

Initial targets are Hawaii and Guam, where many Japanese people live.

The ministry hopes that the culture of eating Japanese eggs, including raw ones, will spread overseas on the back of a "washoku" Japanese cuisine boom, an official said.

The lifting of the ban came after about 14 years of talks between the two countries. The negotiations were once stalled due to a series of avian flu outbreaks in Japan. Jiji Press