EXCLUSIVE: 2 More Japanese Rice Mills to Be Designated for Exports to China

May 9, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese and Chinese governments agreed Wednesday to designate two more rice mills in Japan that prepare rice for exports to China.

China allows imports of Japanese rice on condition that it is polished at designated plants and undergoes pest control measures at designated fumigation warehouses.

Until now, Tokyo-based Zen-Noh Pearl Rice Corp.'s plant in Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of the capital, has been the only designated Japanese rice-polishing mill for exports to China.

One of the two additional plants is in Ishikari in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, and the other in Nishinomiya in the western prefecture of Hyogo.

The two countries also agreed to designate five more fumigation warehouses, including those in Otaru in Hokkaido and Kobe in Hyogo, bringing the total number of such facilities to seven.

As a result, Japan's total annual processing capacity for rice for exports to China will increase to 20,000 tons from 7,000 tons.

Of Japan's overall rice exports of 11,841 tons in 2017, shipments to China came to only 298 tons.

Japanese rice is currently sold at around 1,500 yen per kilogram in China. The addition of designated mills and fumigation warehouses is seen leading to a drop in the prices of Japanese rice in China, industry sources said.

Japan and China also decided to establish a team of specialists to discuss a possible easing of China's import restrictions on Japanese food that were introduced in the wake of the March 2011 accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holding Inc.'s <9501> tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The team is expected to be composed mainly of administrative officials from the two countries.

Currently, China bans imports of food from 10 Japanese prefectures, among them Fukushima, home to the damaged nuclear plant, and Miyagi and Niigata, both of which neighbor Fukushima.

China also effectively suspends imports of Japanese vegetables and tea leaves, including from areas other than the 10 prefectures. Jiji Press