Hisane Masaki | Aug 09, 2011 8:31AM EDT
Japan’s exports of agricultural, fishery and forestry products fell for the third straight month in June on a year-to-year basis, dropping 2.3 percent to $491 million, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
But the year-over-year pace of decline significantly slowed from 14.7 percent in April and 16.6 percent in May.
Japan, the world's largest net food importer, has been revving up its food export drive in recent years. But import restrictions imposed by many countries and regions in the wake of the ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan have dealt a serious blow to the nation’s food shipments.
Amid fears of radioactive contamination, about 40 foreign countries and regions imposed import restrictions on Japanese foods. Canada became the first country to lift all import restrictions on Japanese foods on June 13.
Japan’s U.S.-bound shipments continued to buck the overall declining trend in June, rising 2 percent from a year earlier to $74.4 million. U.S. exports shipments increased 2.3 percent in May after dipping 3.3 percent in April.
Of the total U.S. exports, $51.3 million were agricultural products; $21.8 million were fishery products; and the remaining $1.3 million were forestry products.
Contact Hisane Masaki at yiu45535@nifty.com.
