AWP-Japan Wheat Negotiations hit Snag

DONALD - Sep 10/02 - SNS -- Annual negotiations between the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) and the Japan Food Agency have bogged down and for the first time in 42 years there is a risk the annual wheat contract between the two entities will not be renewed.

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation today, Michael Long, AWB General Manager of International Sales and Marketing, attributed the delay in reaching an agreement to Japan's interest in pursing a more commercial policy in efforts to obtain lower prices for imported wheat.

"It does take a long time, it takes several days, and you have to tread very carefully," he told ABC reporters. "We were not successful in getting the normal annual agreement that we get with the Japanese, however shipments have been concluded on a regular weekly basis and we are, the tonnage that we are shipping into Japan is actually above where we were this time last year. However, it is a sensitive process and times are changing in Japan."

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