JAPAN OPENS HOME MARKET TO U.S. FISH
Japan has agreed to drop barriers to
American-caught herring and pollock, opening the way for
shipments that could reach 300 mln dlrs annually, U.S. Trade
Representative Clayton Yeutter announced.
    Yeutter said the accord was reached after extensive
bilateral negotiations that ended earlier today in Tokyo.
    He said the Commerce Department estimated U.S. shipments of
processed pollock products and herring should rise to 85 mln
dlrs this year and to more than 300 mln dlrs annually in later
years.
    There was no immediate assessment of the value of current
U.S. shipments, but officials said the pact would lift quotas
to the point that Americans would be able to ship nearly all
the pollock and herring ordered by Japanese firms.
    At the same time, Yeutter said Washington was temporarily
suspending a complaint with the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT) that Japan was unfairly curbing imports of the
two fish.
    He said the complaint would be reviewed later this year
after an assessment to see if Japan lived up to the agreement.
 Reuter
