China Lifts Import Ban on Rice from Niigata Pref.

November 29, 2018

Tokyo--Japan's agriculture ministry said Thursday that the Chinese government has lifted its ban on imports of rice grown in the central Japan prefecture of Niigata.

China prohibited imports of foods from Niigata and other parts of Japan, including the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima, in the wake of the March 2011 severe accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The removal of the ban on Niigata rice, an iconic agricultural product in Japan, is expected to raise hopes for Beijing to ease its embargo further, sources familiar with the situation said.

On Wednesday, Chinese authorities announced on the Internet the country's decision to approve imports of Niigata rice from the day following scientific evaluation.

The import permission is conditional, among other things, on Niigata-grown rice, like rice from prefectures not subject to the import ban, being polished at plants designated by the Chinese government.

Certificates of origin need to be submitted, but certificates on radiation checks are no longer required, according to the Japanese ministry.

Meanwhile, China kept the import ban for other food products from Niigata in place this time, officials of the ministry said.

Citing safety concerns following the nuclear accident, China suspended food imports from 12 Japanese prefectures--Niigata, Fukushima. Miyagi, Yamagata, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Nagano and Yamanashi--in April 2011.

In June the same year, products from Yamagata and Yamanashi were removed from the list.

Bilateral talks on import resumption had been stalled due chiefly to deterioration in relations between Japan and China.

At a Japan-China summit in October, however, the Chinese side showed its intention to consider easing the ban based on scientific assessment. Jiji Press