Report No.240306

NEWS

- International -

Cabinet Decides on Additional Japanese Sanctions on North Korea

The government on October 13 formally finalized the following list of sanctions which Japan will enforce on North Korea against its alleged nuclear testing on October 9. These are additional to the list authorized by the United Nations:

1.	a complete ban on port calls by North Korean ships;
2.	a total prohibition on imports from North Korea;
3.	a blanket ban on entry into Japan by North Korean nationals except under special circumstances. North Korean residents of Japan will be allowed to return to Japan;
4.	to study options for further actions taking account of reactions of North Korea and developments in the international community.

Of the above, a blanket ban on entry into Japan by North Korean nationals is enforced already since October 11, while a complete ban on port calls by North Korean ships and a total prohibition on imports from North Korea are due from October 14.

To private business entities of Japan which may incur economic loss due to import bans from North Korea, the government will extend relief in the form of low interest loans etc. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) already set up a window of consultation for support to be given to domestic processing firms, for them to change the source of materials so far procured from North Korean agriculture, forestry and fisheries products. Mr. Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, was asked at a press meeting following the cabinet meeting on October 13 about a possibility of North Korean agriculture, forestry and fisheries products being imported via third countries. In response, he made it clear that the policy is to strengthen measures to prevent import by way of subvention, saying he "would enforce country of origin labeling more stringently by making supervision tougher at the customs offices etc."

Japanese import from North Korea in 2005 was 14.5 billion, half the level of five years ago. Of that sum of import, 6 billion or some 40% is accounted for by agriculture, forestry and fisheries products. It is topped by "Matsutake" pine mushrooms (1.7 billion) and followed by sea urchin (1.3 billion), red queen crab (0.4 billion) and other marine products.

During the past year, though, import of short-neck clam decreased by 80% and that of red queen crab by more than 50%. Many domestic dealers have been voluntarily reducing the scale of business with North Korea recently, which is a reflection of the deteriorating relationship between the two countries. New measures of sanction, therefore, will likely have only a limited impact on consumers.

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