Taiwan’s decade-long ban on Japanese food imports from five Japanese prefectures following the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster would be a key topic in bilateral negotiations now that Taiwan has applied to join a Tokyo-led trade bloc, said Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who heads the Cabinet’s Office of Trade Negotiations.
The government needs to deal with its ban on imports of agricultural and food products from the five prefectures, Deng said in an interview with the Central News Agency.
Although the Japanese government has said it would not make the issue’s resolution a condition for its support of Taipei’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Deng said the dispute has to be dealt with sooner or later.
“Taiwan will bring the issue to the negotiation table once both sides begin official talks on joining the CPTPP,” he said.
Some of the issues likely to be discussed during bilateral talks on lifting the ban would include specifying what kind of food and agricultural products would be allowed into Taiwan, which government agency would be responsible for inspecting the products imported from Japan and what kind of documents would be needed, he said.
“Whether to lift the ban will be decided based solely on scientific evidence,” he added.
Taiwan applied to join the CPTPP on Sept. 22.
It is in talks with all 11 members of the bloc to seek their support and learn about their pressing issues, Deng said.
Talks with Australia and Singapore are not expected to be too challenging, as Taiwan has no major trade disputes with them, he said, but added that talks with Vietnam are expected to be thorny, as Taipei and Hanoi compete in agricultural exports.
Taiwan’s application to join the CPTPP came less than a week after China also applied for membership, suggesting a rush by Taipei in response to Beijing’s bid.
Asked if he was worried that China would join the CPTPP before Taiwan, as was the case with the WTO, Deng said that during the early 2000s, economies around the world had high expectations of China, which was experiencing a significant economic boom at the time.
“How does the world see China now?” Deng asked.
Accession to the CPTPP requires a unanimous decision by all members, he said, adding that Australia, which is facing economic sanctions from China, has voiced its objection to Beijing’s bid.
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