18/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - Easier access to Japanese market for EU meat and cheese. In a flash note published on Monday 16 February, the European Commission's DG Trade announces that exports of processed meat products and soft- and semi-hard cheeses to Japan are becoming easier since the Japanese authorities' adoption of a standard for the pathogenic bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. This standard, adopted at the end of 2014, reflects the international standard applied in the EU. Japan's annual volume of EU processed meat products and soft- and semi-hard cheeses is estimated at €1 billion. (Emmanuel Hagry)