Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick has issued the following statement congratulating the governments of Canada and Japan on market access for British Columbia greenhouse peppers into Japan:

“I want to congratulate the governments of Canada and Japan on reaching an agreement that will now allow our British Columbia greenhouse industry to ship peppers to Japan.

"I am happy to see we have reached this important milestone and our hardworking B.C. greenhouse growers could be looking at up to $20 million worth of pepper exports a year to Japan once the agreement is fully implemented.

“In 2015, B.C. greenhouse growers generated over $308 million in total farm cash receipts, including nearly $141 million in peppers. With over 40,000 tonnes, B.C. accounted for 30% of the nation’s production of peppers.

“The worldwide demand for B.C.’s high-quality agrifoods and seafood is growing. In 2015, we set a B.C. agrifoods export record of $3.5 billion, 20% higher than the previous year.

“It is with export agreements, like the one we are celebrating today, that will help us toward the B.C. government goal of building overall sector revenues to $15 billion per year by 2020.”