To lower tariffs on fruit, five counties and cities in the south make their appeal to Japan in Tokyo

Led by Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, together with the heads of Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung and the deputy mayor of Tainan, they attended yesterday's opening ceremony of the Taiwan Pavilion at the Tokyo International Food Exhibition in Japan, and held an agricultural exchange meeting with Japanese lawmakers including Nobuo Kishi, the younger brother of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It coincided with the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Japan 311 earthquake, and both sides focused on food controls in the five prefectures around the Fukushima nuclear disaster, as well as tariff reductions and food quarantine issues. Taiwan hopes Japan will open up its market to jujubes and red-fleshed dragon fruit and lower tariffs on pineapples, and so on, while the Japanese side called on the newly inaugurated Democratic Progressive Party government, hoping Taiwan would relax its ban on food from the five prefectures around the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

As for whether lifting the ban on food from the five prefectures around Fukushima would become a bargaining chip between the two sides? Neither side promised anything. Chen Chu stressed that this issue must go through scientific certification, and experts would be asked to assess safety according to scientific methods.

[Tokyo On Site] Five Southern Counties and Cities Call on Japan to Lower Fruit Tariffs

[Tokyo On Site] Taiwan's Fruit and Vegetable Exports to Japan in an Awkward Spot: Banana Prices Plunge, Traders Fight Among Themselves

[Tokyo On Site] Edamame Strategy Hits the Mark, Irwin Mango Positioning Succeeds

[Tokyo On Site] One of the World's Three Great Food Shows, the Tokyo International Food Exhibition, a Battleground for All Comers