The Japanese Embassy in China said on April 11 that Japan was going to impose a temporary ban on the import of onions, mushrooms and rushes starting on April 23.

MOFTEC spokesman Gao Yan said yesterday that such a measure would damage Sino-Japanese trade relations, as China is a major supplier of the three farm products to Japan.

She said China reserves the right to take further action in regard to losses incurred by Chinese exporters, producers and farmers as a result of the protective measure.

She suggested that the Japanese government immediately call off the ban.

Gao said the decision was made without full negotiations, or fair and objective investigations and disregarded the fact that increases in China's agricultural exports to Japan were a result of rising demand.

"The decision runs against Japan's long-term advocate of trade liberalization,'' said Gao.

She added that the protective measure was adopted at the expense of the interests of Japanese consumers and companies that have invested in China.

Japanese media reported that the Japanese government has decided to impose restrictions and emergency tariffs on imports of mushrooms, onions and rushes from April 23 to November 8.

Tariffs for mushrooms, onions and rushes would be as high as 266 percent, 256 percent and 106 percent, respectively, for imports that exceed limits specified by the Japanese Government, they reported.

The media also reported that if the two governments failed to reach an agreement before November 8, Japan would extend the temporary ban to four years.

(China Daily 04/13/2001)