On Thursday 6 July, the EU and Japan reached an agreement in principle in Brussels on the essential elements of an economic partnership agreement (see other article). Under this free trade agreement, around 85% of EU agri-food products (in tariff lines) will be authorised to enter Japan entirely duty-free. This corresponds to 87% of current agri-food exports by value.
Japan is a much-valued export market for farmers and food producers in the EU. With annual exports of over €5.7...