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On May 19, Japan's Diet approved the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries proposed revisions to the Agricultural Export Facilitation Act. The revisions allow product-specific industry groups to implement check-off systems and establishes a new fund to extend low-interest and long-term loans to producers, manufacturers and distributors to promote exports.

On April 22, 2022, Japan launched a public-private partnership to facilitate the introduction of an international competitive supply chain for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The Republic of Korea (ROK) has joined international commitments to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and passed a Carbon Neutrality Act in 2021 to promote green growth. Although the agricultural industry will be relatively less impacted than some other sectors (including energy), agricultural producers will need to make some adjustments.

On April 26, 2022, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries designated mackerel, Pacific saury, sardine, squid and cuttlefish as vulnerable to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. From December 1, 2022, Japan will require catch certificates to import products containing these species as a main ingredient.

On April 26, the Japanese Cabinet approved a 6.2 trillion yen ($48 billion) emergency economic package to mitigate the effect of surging energy and food prices on households and small businesses.

This report details the strong demand for U.S. Tree Nut products, driven by the growing health-oriented trends among Japanese consumers. In 2021, fresh and dried nut imports to Japan totaled $491 million, of which 78.2 percent or approximately $384 million was from the United States.