The farm ministry will release on Nov. 21 the findings of its first survey on imports, mainly from China, of three agricultural products for which emergency restrictions expired Thursday, a senior ministry official said Monday.
The ministry will stick to its decision to survey imports of stone leeks, shiitake and rushes used to make tatami mats, and then release the results despite China's opposition, Hideaki Kumazawa, vice minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said at a news conference.
Import tariffs on the three products have fallen back to 3 percent to 6 percent due to the expiration of 200-day emergency curbs applied in the face of surging imports.
The ministry is set to survey imports of the three products under the normal tariffs on a weekly basis and to impose full four-year import restrictions if it finds a steep increase in imports, in compliance with World Trade Organization rules.