U.S. Rice Producers in Unfriendly Fields : Japan: Americans promote product in Tokyo even though they can’t even give the grain away there.

Rice producers from the United States today began trying to promote American-grown rice in Japan--a country where imported rice cannot even be given away.

The U.S. rice industry group opened its promotion despite Japan’s total ban on commercial imports of the staple grain.

In Japan, any public use of foreign rice is prohibited by the food control law, and regulations even limit the amount that private individuals can bring into the country. This prevents the U.S. Rice Millers Assn. from even giving away free samples as it promotes its product.

The chairman of the U.S. Rice Millers Assn. was quoted as saying that the United States could supply half a million metric tons annually if Japan lifted its barriers to imports.

Ronald Caffey told a news conference that the United States wanted access to Japan’s rice market, but not the total liberalization of the market, Kyodo News Service reported.

The U.S. rice group is attending an international food convention here and will present information about U.S.-grown rice and the goals of the U.S. industry.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said the promotion was not intended “to offend the Japanese government or apply political pressure to liberalize rice importation.”

Rice is the last major item on which Japan bans commercial imports. The grain has special significance in the Japanese culture, and the domestic crop cultivated on its scarce farmland is considered a symbol of the island nation’s self-sufficiency.

With annual consumption of 10 million metric tons, half a million tons would represent 5% of the Japanese rice market.

But senior U.S. Rice Millers Assn. official David Graves told reporters at the same news conference that this estimate for U.S. exports could be too high if preferences for certain kinds of rice by Japanese are considered, Kyodo reported.

In October, 1988, the association filed a petition urging Washington to impose tariffs and quotas on Japanese exports unless Tokyo allowed foreign producers to supply 10% of the country’s domestic demand for rice within four years.