Japan is expected in January to finalize approvals that will allow the use of U.S. corn-based ethanol in the production of bio-Ethyl Tert-Butyl Ether (ETBE). Currently, all of the ethanol imported into Japan is sugarcane-based from Brazil because it is the only source of first-generation ethanol that currently fulfills Japan’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standard (50% reduction from gasoline emissions). Japan’s decision is the result of several expert committee meetings to assess the GHG emission value of U.S. corn ethanol, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).