WA must refocus its agribusiness and trade relationship with Japan, the WA Trade Commissioner to Japan Craig Peacock has warned.
A WA agriculture minister had only visited Japan twice and the Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA) director general had visited once in the past 15 years, which was not good for building relationships, he said.
Mr Peacock, who lived in Japan for 26 years, said the Japanese were as interested as the Chinese in high quality products and investments in WA agriculture and should not be ignored.
Mr Peacock said Japanese business offered good long-term partnerships and valued their word and relationships with trade partners.
"In terms of volumes, the business mindset and the way we do business, partnerships between Japan and WA are a perfect match," he said.
The Tokyo trade office plays a co-ordination role in the development of the WA-Japan commodity trade and encourages new business connections in the mineral, agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors.
The office comprehensively supports WA companies and organisations seeking to do business in Japan with a range of business matching services, market research and in-market promotional activities.
DAFWA grains and livestock industries executive director Peter Metcalfe said his officers had conducted trade meetings or attended conference events in Japan during recent years.
This included a visit to Japan in 2015 from then Agriculture and Food Minister Ken Baston to discuss increased trade opportunities with WA.
"DAFWA, in conjunction with other State government departments and industry, continues to focus on strengthening our trading relationship with Japan and growing WA agrifood exports to this important market," Mr Metcalf said.
He said DAFWA had led WA industry participation in Asia's leading trade exhibition Foodex JAPAN, including the most recent exhibition in March this year.
The involvement included one-on-one business meetings and additional value-adding events for participants.
Mr Metcalf said Japan was a key market for WA's agriculture and food industries.
The market was valued at $694 million in 2014-15 and was our fourth largest agrifood market for products including cattle, cereal hay, beef, cereal straw and abalone.
"Top agrifood export commodities to Japan include wheat, canola, barley, cereal hay, beef and malt," he said.
"Japan also remains one of WA's highest boxed beef markets and an importer of premium product.
"AEGIC, a partnership between the WA Government and GRDC, is active particularly in the noodle wheat trade area and DAFWA works to assist AEGIC in this and other relevant areas through access to production and agronomic research information and expertise as required in this and other relevant areas."
Australia has a long history of breeding and supplying high quality noodle wheat to Japan.
According to AEGIC, consistent quality and stable supply of Australian noodle wheat is of high importance to Japan and it is committed to securing the future of this industry and will continue to work towards strengthening this relationship.
In 2017, AEGIC plans to organise and host another wheat technical seminar in Japan and engage another JFMA noodle expert for five to six weeks to evaluate advanced Udon and Ramen lines.
This follows several delegation visits to Japan in the past two years that evaluated noodle wheat varieties and held trade discussions.
Mr Peacock said he hoped Japan would not be over shadowed by the possibility of future China trade.
He said in the past four years he had connected investors and WA businesses to secure trade.
"Japan has become a bit of a forgotten market," Mr Peacock said.
"China seems to have grabbed all the attention without substance.
"Japan has the substance without the attention, so if we could move some of the attention back onto them and grab some of that substance - we would do a lot better.''
Mr Peacock said demand for beef and other produce, including the WA Black Apple offered an opportunity to build long-term markets.
"The Black Apple product has been a hit in Japan, but we need to continue to work in this space," he said.
"There are also opportunities for avocados and other South West products.
"Beef is a real opportunity for us as it has a dedicated market.
"Japan is a reliable partner and is very different to other Asian countries."
According to DAFWA data, WA exports on average 48 per cent of Australia's oaten hay, or about 300,000 tonnes worth more than $88 million in 2012/13.
"The WA export hay industry has forged a strong reputation over the past 15 years delivering premium quality hay throughout Asia and the Middle East," DAFWA stated.
"WA oaten hay is exported to more than 13 markets, with the largest markets being Japan, South Korea and Taiwan."
Japan was one of WA's five top markets for wheat and barley in 2014/15.
"WA is the world's major supplier of wheat for Japanese and Korean white salted (Udon) noodles," DAFWA stated.
"WA has become a significant exporter of canola with major markets in 2014/15 being China, Belgium, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and France."
Japan had a 8.6 per cent ($671 million) share of the State's total agriculture exports in 2014-15, with agricultural exports to Japan rising 5.5pc in 2014-15, according to the Department of State Development.
Two major Japanese airlines are also considering opening direct flights between Perth and Tokyo, which would promote tourism and business and re-establish exports of perishable goods, including quality WA seafood.
The airlines could modify the cargo hold of aircraft to carry big volumes of live seafood, as well as offering seats for business class passengers.
