The Netherlands foreign minister Uri Rosenthal has said Japan needs to remove certain trade barriers before a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) can be reached with the EU.
Radio Netherlands reported that while Mr Rosenthal supported a potential accord between the EU and Japan in principle, he believed current trade barriers would first need to be removed. He gave the example of a Japanese ban on Dutch veal since the outbreak of BSE.
Speaking during a visit to Japan Mr Rosenthal told the news source the Netherlands would send a horticultural mission to Japan’s northeast by the end of the year to help restore areas damaged by the earthquake and tsunami that hit the island nation in March.
