Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF) has confirmed that the US chipping potatoes will be allowed to enter Japan all year round, starting 14 February 2020
Earlier, the US chipping potatoes could be imported to Japan from 1 February to 30 July each year.
The National Potato Council (NPC), as well as the US potato industry, lauded the role of USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) staff for this increased access, according to NPC vice-president of trade affairs Jared Balcom.
As reported in the AgInfo, the US states that have been approved to ship fresh potatoes for processing to Japan are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Japan is the largest export market for US potato industry, with exports totalling more than US$350mn in the past year. In 2019, the US exported 32,240 mt of fresh chipping potatoes, worth more than US$15mn million, to Japan, added the source.
