Grace Wine winery president Shigekazu Misawa holds up a bottle of Koshu wine. THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
JAPANESE consumers stand to benefit from the Japan-EU economic partnership agreement (EPA) that went into effect on Friday, with prices for such European products as wine and cheese set to fall.
A number of domestic producers likewise expect the deal to boost exports of their goods.
On Monday, Ito-Yokado Co, an affiliate of Seven & I Holdings Co, set up a special corner featuring European products. The chain outlet reduced the prices of about 60 items, including wine produced in France, Spain and other countries, by five per cent to 10 per cent ahead of the pact’s implementation.
“When I buy more reasonably priced wines for about 1,000 yen [$9.13], I’ve gone with Chilean wines. From now on, however, European wine will be an option,” said a 61-year-old university professor at the Ito-Yokado Omori store in Ota Ward, Tokyo.
Reduce prices
Retail giant Aeon Co was to reduce the prices of about 330 types of European wine at 3,000 of its group stores starting Friday. Yamaya Corp, a major liquor store chain operator, will also start reducing prices at its outlets.
Domestic producers are also expected to reap benefits. The EU’s 10 per cent import tariff on Japanese cars, for example, will be incrementally reduced to zero over eight years.
However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries estimates that the EPA will cause agricultural, forestry and fisheries production volume to fall by up to 110 billion yen. Key to the future of affected businesses will be whether they can increase exports, as import tariffs imposed by the EU will be reduced or eliminated.
The Japanese cuisine boom has boosted Japanese restaurants in Europe, which numbered about 12,200 in 2017.
“I want to make the Yamanashi brand better known,” Shigekazu Misawa, president of Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture-based winery Grace Wine, said enthusiastically. Nine wineries in the prefecture jointly held tasting events throughout Europe. Through such efforts, they have increased sales of wine made from Koshu, a grape variety native to Japan.
In addition to the elimination of tariffs, the word “Yamanashi” will be protected under the Geographic Indication (GI) system, which protects the names of products, including alcoholic beverages, which include the names of geographical locations. For this reason, producers expect the power of their brands to rise.
Chakouan Yamaguchi Seichaen Co, a Japanese tea sales company based in Saga Prefecture, is seriously discussing whether to begin exporting to the EU, bearing in mind the shrinking domestic market.
“Many buyers are interested in Japanese tea as it has a healthy image,” a company official said.
The dairy industry will face more competition from European cheese, which enjoys a strong global reputation.
The Hokkaido-based Hokuren federation of agricultural cooperatives will hold an exhibition in Tokyo’s Omotesando district in February featuring cheese from Hokkaido, the first such exhibition to be held outside the prefecture.
“We want many people to understand the appeal of domestic cheese in order to boost consumption,” an official related to the exhibition said. THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
