The government’s decision last month to further ease a ban on imports of food items from Japanese prefectures that had been implemented due to the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster could help facilitate a bilateral trade deal between the two sides, a diplomat said yesterday.
Fan Chen-kuo (范振國), secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, made the comment during a ministry briefing when asked about the prospect of Japan and Taiwan signing an economic partnership agreement (EPA).
An EPA would be similar to a free-trade deal aimed at strengthening economic and trade ties.
Photo: Reuters
Taiwan and Japan first launched an economic partnership committee (EPC) in 2014 that was meant to meet annually to discuss economic and trade issues, with the ultimate goal of signing a comprehensive EPA, Fan said.
However, Tokyo suspended the annual meeting after the 2014 meeting because it was unhappy with Taipei’s decision to maintain a ban on imports of food items from five Japanese prefectures affected by the Fukushima disaster, he said.
Japan perceived the ongoing ban on products from Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures as a trade barrier and repeatedly called on Taiwan to lift the restrictions.
The annual EPC meeting was not resumed until early 2022, after Taiwan partially lifted the ban on food imports from the five prefectures, Fan said.
The EPC has met annually since then — in Tokyo last year and in Taipei this year.
Fan said Taiwan took another key step on Sept. 25, when it said almost all food items from the five Japanese prefectures would be allowed into the country, except those from the five areas that are banned from being sold in Japan.
Those products could still be imported on the condition that their importers present radiation and origin certificates, Fan said.
Although the Japanese side was not completely satisfied with the certificate requirement according to Fan, Japan’s then-minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries Tetsushi Sakamoto praised Taipei’s decision.
“We believe this is an optimistic step that will help reconstruction efforts in the disaster areas,” Sakamoto said.
Taiwan and Japan have already signed an investment agreement, a pact on avoiding double taxation and a customs agreement, which would all serve as a foundation for the ultimate signing of an EPA, Fan said.
“Taiwan and Japan have a consensus that enhancing bilateral economic and trade relations is mutually beneficial,” he said, adding that the two sides could continue talks on potentially signing a EPA in the near future.
Japan is Taiwan’s third-largest trading partner, and Taiwan is Japan’s fourth-largest trading partner. Taiwan’s main exports to Japan include chips, polyethylene terephthalate, mechanical parts, turbojet engines, processors and controllers, and steel products, government data showed.
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