High standards and singular snow
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Michiyo Nakamoto
Japan has often used strange arguments for keeping its markets closed to foreign goods.
One of the most bizarre reasons for opposing the liberalisation of US beef imports in the late 1980s was provided by Tsutomu Hata, the then agriculture minister, who famously argued that Japanese intestines were longer than those of Americans and had trouble digesting foreign beef.
A similarly curious explanation was given for restrictions on imports of European skis: that Japanese snow was different.
But over the years, and under substantial pressure from its trade partners, Japan has opened up its markets to many and varied goods and services from overseas.
For example, although it has kept its rice market strictly closed, Japan imports about 60 per cent of its food intake by calories. Everything from oranges to semiconductor chips, which were once difficult to find in Japan or prohibitively expensive due to import restrictions, have now become staples in supermarkets and factory warehouses.
This year, contaminated dumplings imported from China, which led to several people falling ill, have fanned friction between Japan and its largest trading partner. While the incident has resulted in many Japanese consumers shunning Chinese products, Japan's dependence on China for food, particularly processed food, makes a trade war with its neighbour inconceivable.
Yet in many areas, Japan remains a difficult market for foreign imports to crack, not because of clear trade restrictions but because the country uses different standards from the rest of the world, points out the European Business Council (EBC). For example, Japan's standards for clinical trials differ markedly from those used elsewhere, slowing down the import of new drugs, as do standards for telecommunications equipment.
Strict plant quarantine rules, lack of cargo handling capacity at Narita International Airport and high fumigation costs due to a lack of competition have kept imports of cut flowers to a mere 10 per cent of the market, compared with 85 per cent in most industrialised counties.
FT Syndication Service
Japan has often used strange arguments for keeping its markets closed to foreign goods.
One of the most bizarre reasons for opposing the liberalisation of US beef imports in the late 1980s was provided by Tsutomu Hata, the then agriculture minister, who famously argued that Japanese intestines were longer than those of Americans and had trouble digesting foreign beef.
A similarly curious explanation was given for restrictions on imports of European skis: that Japanese snow was different.
But over the years, and under substantial pressure from its trade partners, Japan has opened up its markets to many and varied goods and services from overseas.
For example, although it has kept its rice market strictly closed, Japan imports about 60 per cent of its food intake by calories. Everything from oranges to semiconductor chips, which were once difficult to find in Japan or prohibitively expensive due to import restrictions, have now become staples in supermarkets and factory warehouses.
This year, contaminated dumplings imported from China, which led to several people falling ill, have fanned friction between Japan and its largest trading partner. While the incident has resulted in many Japanese consumers shunning Chinese products, Japan's dependence on China for food, particularly processed food, makes a trade war with its neighbour inconceivable.
Yet in many areas, Japan remains a difficult market for foreign imports to crack, not because of clear trade restrictions but because the country uses different standards from the rest of the world, points out the European Business Council (EBC). For example, Japan's standards for clinical trials differ markedly from those used elsewhere, slowing down the import of new drugs, as do standards for telecommunications equipment.
Strict plant quarantine rules, lack of cargo handling capacity at Narita International Airport and high fumigation costs due to a lack of competition have kept imports of cut flowers to a mere 10 per cent of the market, compared with 85 per cent in most industrialised counties.
FT Syndication Service