Since March 2012, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan has been working to establish a sui generis system for agricultural GIs. “The Act for Protection of Designated Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Products and Foodstuffs” (the GI Act) - promulgated in June 2014 (Act No. 84, 2014) – entered in to force on 1 June 2015.
The main features of the GI Act are as follows:
The GI Act is available on the House of Representatives website (in Japanese) @ http://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_gian.nsf/html/gian/honbun/houan/g18605081.htm
An English translation of the GI Act is included in a Report of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Affairs
Detailed information on the new Japanese GI system is available @ http://www.maff.go.jp/e/japan_food/gi_act/index.html
Since the Act for Protection of Designated Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Products and Foodstuffs (the GI Act) entered in to force in Japan on 1 June 2015 (see oriGIn Alerts 11 June 2015), 10 Japanese GIs have been registered, among them: Aomori cassis from Higashiao region, Tajima Beef and Kobe beef from the Hyogo Prefecture, Yubari melons from the northern of island of Hokkaido. The Ministry of Agriculture of Japan (MAFF) is actively promoting the recognition of GIs to increase demand for premium farm products inside Japan and in foreign markets. The Registry is also open to foreign GIs.
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