Japan hopes to see cut in tariffs on Mexican chicken - JAPAN - Japanese farm minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Wednesday he wants to see a deal struck with Mexico in fiscal 2006 on a cut in Japanese tariffs on chicken imports from Mexico, Kyodo News reported.

The visiting minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries made the remark to Kyodo News after his talks with Mexican President Vicente Fox and other Mexican leaders.

Japan and Mexico have been negotiating specific chicken tariff levels under the bilateral free trade agreement that went into effect last April.

Under the FTA, 10 tonnes of duty-free Mexican chicken can enter the Japanese market for the first year. A 10 percent tariff cut will be applied to Mexican chicken imports for the second year.

The chicken tariffs for later years will be negotiated along with beef and citrus fruit tariffs after the FTA enters its second year in April.

Nakagawa said the FTA got off to a "good start," citing rises in Japan's exports of automobiles and electrical appliances to Mexico and Mexico's exports of beef and tuna to Japan.

Source: eFeedLink - 13th January 2006