Trade barriers
In light of the ongoing discussions about rice imports to Japan in another post, I thought an article in the Nishinippon Shimbun today was revealing.
The newspaper conducted a survey of Kyushu agricultural exports and found that only 3% by volume went to Asian countries, despite their proximity. Of particular note was the difficulty Kyushu farmers had in exporting to China. That country has strict plant quarantine laws that effectively shut out apples and Japanese pears from the market. The Japanese government also has applied for permission to export 12 additional food categories whose import is currently prohibited, including strawberries and rice (!), but the Chinese government hasn’t gotten around to taking action on the applications.
An interesting pattern seems to be developing here. Chinese textbooks are much more heavily censored than Japanese textbooks, but Japan gets the heat. Chinese agricultural import policies are much more exclusionary than Japan’s, but again Japan gets the heat.
What could be the justification for these double standards?
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Well, Japan shuts out apples, pears, and virtually every other fresh fruit from China. Rice as well, though I am not sure. So, for the items you’ve mentioned, there is no double standard.
Aside from all that, Japanese produce has very limited appeal in Asian countries. Japanese ex-pats and a few rich locals who think that Japanese produce is safer than Chinese (and are often right). I have seen some Japanese produce in Hong Kong, in very limted amounts. Again, mainly to please Japanese customers.
Obviously, Japanese costs are astronomical compared to other Asian countries. The government doesn’t help. Anyone outside of JAS who tries to export will find forwarding and shipping costs to be an additional burden, even if the price of the produce itself is attractive.
There are plenty of double standards, but this is not a good example.
June 5th, 2005 at 3:48 pmWell, the article was about agricultural products, not fruit exclusively. There are a lot of Chinese vegetables available in Japan, particularly at those small markets that sell at prices way below those of supermarkets.
Just yesterday I saw large bags of Chinese garlic for sale, and it was in a supermarket.
And bananas from the Philippines are all over the place.
Note also that the article said only 3% of Kyushu agricultural exports go to Asia. The other 97% are going somewhere else. If they were that expensive, no one would buy them at all.
Is there a country that doesn’t have exclusionary import policies for agriculture? Besides Monaco, Singapore, and the Vatican City?
June 5th, 2005 at 4:28 pmYes, I shipped some of those garlic myself, so I am familiar with the topic.
Japan doesn’t have an ag export market to speak of, those there may be spikes during shortages. Bananas don’t compete with Japanese farmers, so they are not a problem, unless they are Chinese bananas. Chinese even grow gobo, though it is one of the few foods they won’t touch themselves, for the Japanese market.
I am curious where that 97% goes, and even more curious what it comprises. It may be processed foods?
June 5th, 2005 at 6:57 pmHi, I’m posting here for the first time.
Since the article seems to be on exported agricultural products from Kyushu,that would basically be referring to citrus fruits, strawberries, green tea, and rice. Over 90% of mandarin orange exports go to Canada, and green tea is exported to the US, Canada, and EU. Strawberries are exported to Hong Kong, but since they’re consumed as luxury products, the exported volume is most likely negligible compared to mandarin oranges and tea, whose total export volumes are approximately 5000 and 700 tons for all of Japan, respectively. Rice is exported for consumption by Japanese overseas, so I expect the volume to also be small.
June 6th, 2005 at 10:38 am