Aardappelketen uit Japan

Last week Japan eliminated its remaining 2.1% tariff on US frozen fries (HS 2004.10) as a result of the tariff concessions secured under the US-Japan Trade Agreement.

Potato growers in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan's second-largest potato-producing region hope to boost their name recognition as a potato producer with a new variety, "Nagasaki Kogane" (Nagasaki Gold), which it filed for registration in 2015.

Japanese snack maker Calbee is increasing the amount of the crop it grows in rice fields. Paddy-field potatoes are mainly grown in Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island, but Calbee also plans to start cultivating them in the northern regions of Hokkaido and Tohoku.

Japan's potato supply is rebounding -- with wholesale and retail prices falling -- thanks to solid shipments from secondary producing regions starting in the spring.

Calbee, Inc. the largest potato chip manufacturer in Japan, had some good news for Potato Chip Lovers in the country: it will resume sales of three brands of potato chips it suspended in April because of the potato shortage.

Japan's potato chip shortage is rapidly developing into a crisis, with consumers rushing to stock up on what little is left in supermarkets and manufacturers struggling to find fresh supplies.

Japan’s potato chip lovers, beware: Your favourite snacks may become harder to find. The country’s worst potato harvest in at least 34 years has prompted major snack makers to halt production of several types of snacks.

Japan's largest fresh potato production region - Hokkaido - was struck by four typhoons in August of 2016. Approximately 24,000 ha of land received damaging levels of rain and flooding, including areas producing fresh potatoes.

After several years of negotiations, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) has agreed to allow US chipping potatoes to be transported overland from an international port to an approved processing facility in Kagoshima.

McDonald's Japan is to only sell small portions of fries starting December 17, in response to the french fry shortage in the country.