Japan’s beef imports from members of a trans-Pacific free trade pact that took effect late last year soared more than 50 percent in January from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday.
Beef imports from Australia, Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand — all of whom have ratified the 11-member trade agreement — totaled 33,000 tons in January, up 57 percent from the 21,000 tons in the same month last year, according to data from the Finance Ministry.
The deal, officially known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, entered into force Dec. 30 and covers 13 percent of the global economy and 500 million people.
[Read more here.]