SHANGHAI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese farm produce exports to the European Union and Japan slowed down in 2006 as EU's stricter rules on food hygiene and controls came into force.

    Farm produce exports via the port of Shanghai reached 2.76 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, a 10 percent increase on the previous year.

    Exports to Japan rose by a meager 1.7 percent to 900 million U.S. dollars as a result of Japan's Positive List System for Agricultural Chemical Residues in Foods, a key piece of food quality legislation which came into effect on May 29, 2006.

    Meanwhile, farm produce exports to the EU reached 420 million U.S. dollars in 2006, up 16 percent on 2005, a robust performance but not as good as anticipated, since the new EU rules on food hygiene and controls, the EU Hygiene Directives, were applied from Jan. 1, 2006.

    The growth of exports to the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Hong Kong also came down by 4.2 percentage points and 3 percentage points respectively to 200 million and 140 million U.S. dollars in 2006, according to the Shanghai customs authorities.

    But the exports of farm produce to the United States went up 15 percent to 430 million U.S. dollars in 2006, making it China's most important farm and processed product market.

    China's farm produce exports reached 31 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, an increase of 14 percent on 2005. Nearly half of the total is processed farm produce, up 23 percent from the previous year.