Canada has told Japan it will lift a ban on imports of Japanese-grown pears that began in 1997 due to a quarantine problem, officials of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Wednesday.
Lyle Vanclief, Canadian minister for agriculture and agri-food, conveyed the decision to agriculture minister Yoshiyuki Kamei on Tuesday in Rome. The ministers held talks on the sidelines of the general assembly meeting of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, they said.
The ministry hopes to resume pear exports to Canada, beginning with next year's harvest, after working out new quarantine procedures during working-level talks with Canadian officials.
Japan exported Twentieth Century-brand pears produced in Tottori Prefecture to Canada until 1997, when Canada suspended imports after spotting spider mites in the quarantine process.
Japan has since asked Canada to lift the ban via a proposal to introduce stricter quarantine measures.