Japan Purchases Rice From U.S., China and Thailand

Japan bought 3,496 metric tons of rice from the U.S., China and Thailand today through a tender system introduced to loosen government grain-import controls, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

Of the total, 2,596 tons were from the U.S., 560 tons were from China and the remainder was from Thailand, the ministry said in a statement.

The tender was held under the so-called simultaneous buy- and-sell system in which food companies and trading houses jointly bid for grains of any origin and quality.

Japan is self-sufficient in rice. The nation agreed to give minimum market access to exporting countries at the Uruguay Round of world trade talks in 1993, buying 770,000 tons a year.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-16/japan-purchases-rice-from-u-s-china-and-thailand-update1-.html)