Japan has agreed to resume imports of heat-treated processed poultry products from China, on condition that Chinese processing plants clear hygiene norms to be specified by Japan, agriculture ministry officials said Friday.
The deal was reached the same day at a meeting in Tokyo between Japanese officials and Chinese government representatives, weeks after Japan banned imports of Chinese chicken and other poultry products, said the officials at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.
Imports will be authorized only from plants judged to have met the hygiene standards Japan will shortly draw up and present.
Japan will send hygiene experts to Chinese meat-processing plants after it devises the guidelines and the specifics of the heat-treating methods the plants need to use to qualify for export.
On Thursday, Japan granted a Thai demand to resume exports of heat-treated poultry products under the same conditions. Japan imported a combined 220,000 tons of processed poultry goods in fiscal 2002, of which China and Thailand jointly accounted for 98 percent.
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