TOKYO: The government plans to promote exports of fugu, a traditional luxury food item in Japan, targeting wealthy people in China and other Asian nations, according to sources. Fugu, or puffer fish, are rarely seen in overseas marketplaces because of the poison they contain, but the government is aiming to make the product a big seller among the country’s agricultural and marine exports. The government has set a goal to raise the value of agricultural, forestry and fishery products exported overseas to ¥1 trillion (US$ 8.8 billion) by the end of 2019. It hopes to attain the goal by promoting fugu as a new “Japanese brand” foodstuff. Fugu has poison in various parts of the body, such as its skin and testis, depending on the species. In Japan, a licensing system for cooking fugu has been established. But there are said to be few countries in the world that customarily eat fugu, due to their insufficient knowledge of how to remove the poison.
According to the Fisheries Agency, many countries prohibit imports and domestic sales of fugu. Currently, the United States, Russia, Malaysia and Singapore import fugu from Japan. With Japanese food becoming popular recently in China, local Japanese restaurants have started serving fugu dishes. China officially approved the domestic distribution of fugu last year, but has yet to approve imports of the fish.
To export fugu to China from Japan, the government needs to negotiate with China’s food sanitation authorities to have them recognize the safety of the fish and other elements. The government plans to accelerate efforts to negotiate with China for that purpose.
