Japan will expand import quotas for edible seaweed starting in April by 46 percent from the previous year to 585 million sheets, covering 6 percent of domestic consumption, the Fisheries Agency said Tuesday.
The agency said Japan has recently agreed with China to set an import quota on Chinese laver at 230 million sheets for fiscal 2006. The remainder includes 340 million sheets for South Korea and 15 million sheets for indefinite exporters.
Japan adopted the import quotas to protect domestic producers of nori.
In January, Tokyo agreed with Seoul to gradually increase annual South Korean imports to 1.2 billion sheets by fiscal 2015, after Seoul filed a complaint against the Japanese import quotas with the World Trade Organization.