Japan's fresh eggs can for the first time be exported to the United States after a restriction on their shipment was lifted on Tuesday, the farm ministry said.

Tokyo had been requesting that Washington allows raw egg exports since 2004. Previously, eggs shipped to the United States were limited to those sterilized with heat, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Fresh egg exports to Hawaii and other places at a relatively short distance from Japan can now be expected, the ministry said.

(File photo of fresh eggs ready to be exported to Singapore from Chubu airport)

To be exported, eggs need to be chilled at a temperature below 7.2 C from 36 hours after being laid until their arrival at a U.S. destination, it said.

In 2017, 3,891 tons of raw eggs, or 0.15 percent of domestic production, were exported for a total value of 1 billion yen ($8.9 million) with most of them destined for Hong Kong.