Time.news – Diplomatic relations between Italy and Japan are as old as the Italian State: the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between the two countries was signed in 1866 and, as stated on the website of the Italian embassy in Tokyo, “bilateral relations are fueled by an intense exchange of political visits, by a broad spectrum of sectoral cooperations, by a positive dynamic of economic-trade relations and by a close link between the G7 and the G20”.
Japan is for Italy”a strategic partner with whom it shares fundamental democratic values and principlesThe visit to Rome by Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida therefore fits into this context. Last November, it was preceded by a meeting in Munster between Foreign Ministers Antonio Tajani and his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministerial, while Kishida himself, in May of last year, had already been to Rome where he met the then Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
The two countries, still reads on the embassy website, “keep one close coordination within the G7/G20 framework on all priority topics on the international agenda: starting from international security and stability to strategies to combat climate change and the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, in line with the EU Strategy for the Indo-Pacific and in line with the founding principles of the Japanese Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy, the two countries are working to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the region.
Collaboration in the security sector has also seen significant developments. Among these, the joint naval exercises, held in May 2021 in the Gulf of Aden, between the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Italian ships used in the framework of the EU Navfor mission.
Bilaterally, it was signed in October 2021 an agreement between the Italian Air Force and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces for the inclusion of Japanese military pilots in advanced training courses at the International Flight Training School of Decimomannu (Cagliari).
From an economic point of view, theand relations are governed by the EU-Japan partnership agreement, the first signed with the European Union’s second largest trading partner in Asia, which is also the fourth largest economy in the world; in 2018 after 18 negotiation sessions, and entered into force in 2019. It created an open trading zone covering 635 million people and almost a third of the world’s GDP.
For Italy, the agreement is particularly interesting from the point of view of the agri-food sector and above all in the wine sector: spirits, which had a 15% duty, have been liberalized since the entry into force of the agreement. Annual tariff quotas (TRQ) are also envisaged for some agricultural items of the EU deemed sensitive by the Japanese, such as wheat and derivative products, sugar, butter, coffee and cheese, while pasta, chocolate, biscuits and tomato sauce will arrive at the duty zero after periods between 5 and 10 years after the entry into force of the Treaty. Another important milestone in the agri-food sector was the recognition of 205 European IIGGs, which will benefit in Japan from the same level of protection guaranteed in the EU; of these, 45 IIGG are Italian (including 26 wineries).
Regarding duties on industrial productsthe reset will take place at different times according to the sectors: 15 years for footwear, 10 for leather accessories, 7 for cars and up to seven for components.