Japan Govt to Support Exports of Precooked Rice

May 6, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's agriculture ministry is set to introduce a subsidy program aimed at helping improve plastic containers for cooked white rice in an effort to increase exports of the product, informed sources have said.

Many of such prepackaged steamed rice products, which are eaten after being warmed in microwave ovens or in hot water, have best-before periods of six to 10 months.

The ministry hopes to extend the periods to 12 months or longer by improving plastic containers and packaging materials.

Through the measure, the ministry wants to see prepackaged domestic rice products displayed on the shelves longer in overseas markets and promote exports, the sources said.

Transportation by sea and customs procedures take about one to three months for exports of prepackaged rice products. As a result, the periods of them being displayed at stores are shorter than in Japan.

"If the best-before periods are extended, that will likely increase the number of stores handling Japanese prepackaged rice, leading to an increase in sales abroad," a senior ministry official said.

Entities, including the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization and a food maker in the central Japan prefecture of Niigata, a major rice-growing area, will jointly start to work on improving plastic containers for such rice products as early as this month, aiming to accomplish the mission by 2021.

Prepackaged rice products can be exported to almost all countries as they are not subject to plant quarantine.

According to the ministry, exports of cooked Japanese rice products for meals, including prepackaged steamed rice, totaled some 658 tons in 2017.

While no year-on-year comparison is available due to a revision in the statistics, exports are steadily rising, mainly to Thailand and other Asian nations, on the back of an increase in the number of foreign visitors to Japan and the growing popularity of Japanese cuisine abroad, ministry officials said. Jiji Press