Meaning of 認める and how to use it

Question

From this article (for those keeping up it's the same as my previous question):

水産庁は、これから、この工場からＥＵの国にかつお節を輸出してもいいと認める予定です After this the fisheries agency are planning to accept that it's okay to export katsuobushi to EU countries from this factory.

I'm struggling with the meaning of the verb 認める and I can't work out whether と is quotative or conditional.

Reading the whole article I couldn't work out if 水産庁 was making the decision that it was okay to export the fish or whether the use of 認める somehow suggested that they were checking with an EU authority.

Answer 1

「認{みと}める」 here means "to permit", "to allow", etc. and nothing else. 「許可{きょか}する」 would be the synonym.

「と」 in front of it indicates the result of an action or state. 「輸出{ゆしゅつ}してもいい」 is the result or the final decision (of the implied series of discussions and research).

So, the Fisheries Agency (after all the implied preparations) is now scheduled to allow the export of katsuobushi from this factory to EU.

This 「と」 could not be labeled either as quotative or conditional.

You mentioned "to check with" as a possible meaning of 「認める」, but it could not mean that in any context. You may have been thinking of 「確認{かくにん}する」, which means exactly "to check with".

Answer 2

水産庁は、これから、この工場からＥＵの国にかつお節を輸出してもいいと認める予定です。
水産庁は、xxxを（xxxと）認める予定です。= The fisheries agency is going to approve xxx.

The fisheries agency is an administrative institution, so most appropriate English word "認める" here is "approve."

"かつお節の輸出　を　認める（認可{にんか}する）" = "approve the export of Katuobushi"

"ｘｘｘを認める（認可する）," ｘｘｘ is a nominal phrase.

"かつお節を輸出してもいい　と　認める（認可する）" = "approve that the production companies export Katuobushi"

"ｘｘｘと認める（認可する）," ｘｘｘ is a sentence.