The lower house of Japan has approved draft amendments to the country’s customs legislation depriving Russia of the most-favoured-nation status. This implies a temporary increase in duties on imports.
Most-favoured-nation status is one of the basic principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO), providing for equal duties on trade for all WTO members.
Removing most-favoured-nation status implies an increase in customs duties for its goods. Import tariffs from Russia on crab meat will rise from 4% to 6 per cent, on sea urchins from 7 per cent to 10 per cent, and on salmon from 3.5 per cent to 5 per cent.