China has started import of Japan's rice and meanwhile Japan
resumed its import of China's straws, sources with the General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine
(AQSIQ) said Wednesday.
The quality watchdog said two famous brands of Japanese rice
will be available in the supermarkets of some big cities in China
in the next few days, primarily targeting high-income
consumers.
Meanwhile China's straws for feeding which was banned in 2005,
will be permitted to export to Japan again.
Li Changjiang, director of the AQSIQ, met with Japan's farm
minister Norihiko Akagi on Wednesday and talked about the issues in
details.
Li said that China has always attached importance to the issue
of food safety, adding that the nation has worked out an effective
mechanism to guaranteed the safety of food exports.
Statistics recently released by the Japanese government showed
that the 99.42 percent of the Chinese food products examined by
Japanese quality authorities conform to standards.
This is against 98.69 percent for food imports from US, and
99.38 percent for those from EU.
Li said that these figures prove that China's food products are
safe and trustworthy.
Japanese farm minister Norihiko Akagi said China's import of
Japanese rice is an important achievement in building a mutually
beneficial relation between the two countries and help promote the
development of a healthy relationship.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26 2007)
