on Feb. 14 unveiled a new logo for seafood exports as part of the government’s push to sell more Japanese marine products abroad.Traders will be able to use the logo, which says “Excellent Seafood JAPAN,” for free from April after completing usage approval procedures.
The agency said it does not plan to conduct export commodity inspections during the approval procedures "because all Japanese fishery products are excellent."
The logo features waves representing Japan’s rich fishing waters, a leaping fish, and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mount Fuji.
The agency asked the public and foreign distributors from seven countries for their opinions on three logo candidates that were announced last November.
A candidate logo designed by Sakana-kun, a television personality and marine expert, received the highest approval ratings on the domestic front, although the creator remained anonymous during the voting process.
However, the “Excellent Seafood JAPAN” logo was selected because it garnered the highest ratings among the foreign distributors, and the agency envisioned overseas markets.
The Abe administration aims to increase exports of farm, marine and other food products to 1 trillion yen ($9.81 billion) by 2020. Fishery products are seen as pivotal items to fulfill the goal.
In 2013, exports of marine products increased 30 percent from the previous year to 221.7 billion yen. The administration’s goal is to raise the figure to 350 billion yen by 2020.
