July
2008
Bush Again Asks Japan To Fully Open Its Market To U.S.
Beef
U.S. President George W. Bush asked Japan on Sunday to lift all of its mad
cow disease-linked controls on U.S. beef imports and fully open its beef
market, a Japanese official said. Bush made the call in a bilateral
meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda held on the eve of the
three-day Group of Eight summit starting Monday, the official told
reporters. Fukuda replied with Tokyo's oft-repeated position that the
bilateral beef trade row should be addressed ''based on scientific
evidence.'' Japan and the United States are at loggerheads over
Washington's insistence that Tokyo abolish all its limits on U.S. beef
imports for meat coming from cattle aged up to and including 20 months.
Since June last year, the two nations have held talks on relaxing Japan's
import terms for U.S. beef. Tokyo is considering raising the limit to
cattle aged up to and including 30 months. Tokyo's ban on U.S. beef
imports, introduced in December 2003, was lifted in December 2005 under
certain conditions including the age limit. But it was reinstated
the following month after a veal shipment from the United States was found
to contain part of a backbone, a risk material banned under a bilateral
beef trade agreement.The ban was again lifted in July 2006 under the same
conditions. (Kyodo News; Sunday, July 6, 2008)
New Analytic Method Can Identify Origin Of Food
Japan Isotope Analysis Laboratory, Inc. has commercialized a new testing
method that can determine where food has been produced or grown. The new
method, which is more accurate than conventional component analysis,
measures and analyzes the stable isotopes of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and
hydrogen that are contained in food products. The Yokohama-based venture
claims to be the first company to apply stable isotope analysis to food
testing. Tests cost 20,000 yen to 35,000 yen, 10-20% more than existing
methods, but the company expects strong demand from food makers and
supermarkets due to the growing number of false food labeling incidents
that have come to light recently. The firm was founded in May by a group
including Akira Hanawa, president of Genetic ID Japan Inc., Japan's
leading genetic food testing firm. (The Nikkei; Wednesday, July 2, 2008)
Nisshin Oillio To Supply Palm Oil To Developing
Countries
Nisshin Oillio Group Ltd. plans to begin supplying oils used in
making chocolate to emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil as early as
fiscal 2009. To this end, the company will double production capacity for
palm oil in early fiscal 2009 to around 100,000 tons per year at its
Malaysian plant at a cost of around 5 billion yen. Run by subsidiary
Intercontinental Specialty Fats Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian plant has primarily
sold its output to European chocolate makers. In addition to supplying
emerging markets, it may also begin supplying palm oil to candy makers in
Japan. Chocolate was originally made from cocoa butter extracted from
cocoa beans, but cocoa bean production areas are widely scattered across
Africa and other areas, making supplies uneven. With global supplies
tightening, many chocolate makers are substituting palm oil, which can be
readily procured in large amounts. Surging global demand for chocolate is
also driving restructuring of the industry on a worldwide scale. A Turkish
food producer this year acquired Belgian luxury chocolate producer Godiva
Chocolatier, while Lotte Group will acquire Guylian NV with plans to
market its premium chocolate in Asia. (The Nikkei; Wednesday, July 2,
2008)
June
2008
Asahi
Breweries To Buy Amano Jitsugyo To Boost Food Ops
Asahi Breweries Ltd. plans to spend 6 billion yen to purchase 80%
of the outstanding shares in midsize foodmaker Amano Jitsugyo Co. in
July. By making Amano Jitsugyo a consolidated subsidiary, the company
aims to tap new demand in the more promising household food business
at a time when the beer market is shrinking. Amano Jitsugyo, a major
producer of freeze-dried foods, logged sales of 14 billion yen in the
year ended September 2007. The Hiroshima Prefecture-based company was
looking for a financial backer to strengthen its management base, as
its food operations for commercial use, which account for 70% of its
sales, have been sluggish despite the overall strength of the instant
food market. Meanwhile, Asahi Breweries has been expanding its food
operations, purchasing baby food maker Wakodo Co. in 2006 and
investing in tomato-based condiment maker Kagome Co. in 2007. The firm
booked sales of 69.2 billion yen in the food and medical segment in
the fiscal year through last December and aims to boost the figure to
80 billion yen by fiscal 2009. (The Nikkei; Tuesday, June 24, 2008)
Fukuda
Unveils More Food Aid, Seeks Mechanism To Check On Market
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda unveiled additional aid Tuesday to help
the poor survive the current food crisis and called for a mechanism to
survey food markets to make sure there are no speculative elements
causing food price surges. In a speech at a U.N. conference in Rome on
addressing soaring world food prices, Fukuda stressed it is important
that the international community take emergency steps as well as
comprehensive medium- to long-term measures in concert. ''We must take
actions based upon collective wisdom and insights,'' Fukuda said,
while pointing out that he is participating in the Food and
Agriculture Organization's High-Level Conference on World Food
Security with a ''strong sense of urgency.'' Fukuda has decided to
take time out from the ongoing regular Diet session at home to attend
the so-called world food summit to show Japanese leadership and
initiative as this year's chair of the Group of Eight major
industrialized nations. In terms of further aid, Fukuda pledged to
provide $50 million to help developing countries, including those in
Africa, increase food production, in addition to the $100 million in
aid already implemented this year in that area. The money will be used
to provide seeds, fertilizer and machinery to poor farmers to help
them produce more food, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.
Fukuda said Japan is prepared for the time being to release a total of
300,000 tons or more of imported rice to countries facing difficulties
in procuring rice on international markets due to rising prices. Of
the total amount, about 100,000 tons will be allocated as grant aid to
Africa and other low-income countries and another 200,000 tons will
likely go to assist the Philippines, Japanese government sources said.
In addition, Sri Lanka has asked Japan for about 100,000 tons of rice,
leading to the likelihood that Tokyo may release a total of 400,000
tons of imported rice, the sources said. As of the end of March, Japan
has a stock of about 1.3 million tons of rice under a minimum import
access commitment from countries such as the United States. ''I would
like to call on other countries to release to international markets
from their stockpiles of food as well to return some degree of
equilibrium to the food market, which has been heating up recently,''
Fukuda said. He said the world community must consider setting up some
kind of mechanism to demonstrate a ''strong political will'' to survey
the food market if it transpires that market speculation or other
factors not related to real demand are at the root of the current
crisis. The prime minister urged countries to refrain from imposing
restrictions on agricultural exports and asked the international
community to support Japan's proposal at World Trade Organization
negotiations for food importing countries to be able to register their
opinion when export restrictions are imposed. On medium- and long-term
measures, Fukuda emphasized the need for increased food production
capabilities in individual countries and smooth food distribution in
addition to attaining short-term stability. ''Japan, as the world's
largest net food importer, will engage in all possible efforts to
contribute to the stabilization of demand and supply in the world food
market through the promotion of domestic agricultural reform and
increasing our food self-sufficiency rate,'' he said. Noting that the
current surge in food prices is a multifaceted problem intertwined
with other issues such as rising oil prices, climate change and the
energy market, Fukuda said the matter must be dealt with in a
comprehensive way. He said the international community must make sure
that the production of biofuels is sustainable and not a threat to the
world's food security by carrying out measures such as promoting
research on second-generation biofuels that are not derived from food
crops. Fukuda promised to discuss the issue of food at July's G-8
summit in Hokkaido and to send out a ''robust'' message with other
leaders of the group to give people assurance and confidence regarding
food as they look toward the future. The Japanese leader is in Italy,
on the final leg of a three-nation European tour that also took him to
Germany and Britain, as part of preparations for Japan's hosting of
the G-8 summit, which will also involve Canada, France, Russia and the
United States. (Kyodo; Tuesday, June 3, 2008)
