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Japan To Finish Audit Of US Beef Plants By July 21



WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Japan is expected to wrap up its audit of U.S. beef producing plants by July 21, paving the way for a resumption of U.S. exports to Japan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.



The USDA, in a prepared statement, said teams of Japanese auditors "will arrive in the U.S. this weekend and conclude their work by July 21. Upon completion of the audits, Japan has agreed to expeditiously resume beef trade."



U.S. and Japanese negotiators reached an agreement early Wednesday morning EDT that bridged several disagreements between the two countries on how beef trade would resume. That agreement is expected to be implemented soon after the audits are completed.



USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said later Wednesday that he is pleased with the deal reached by negotiators, but stressed he will "not be satisfied until U.S. beef is once again accepted into the Japanese market."



U.S. and Japanese negotiators met for eight hours in two video conference sessions Tuesday and into the morning Wednesday to resolve their differences. One sticky issue was U.S. demands that Japan provide assurances that it won't allow future non-compliance issues with individual shipments to disrupt all beef trade.



Johanns said he believes that was accomplished.



"When that occurs, my expectation is that minor noncompliance issues will not disrupt our entire trading relationship," Johanns said. "Instead, Japan has agreed to notify us of such issues and discuss the appropriate course, such as the rejection of individual shipments, if appropriate."



It was one such veal shipment that contained prohibited material – vertebral column - that prompted Japan to reinstate its ban on U.S. beef in January. That shut-down happened only a month after Japan had eased a two-year ban.



The original two-year ban was put on U.S. beef in reaction to the first discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in the U.S.



Japan was the largest foreign market for U.S. beef in 2003.



"Japan has been conducting an exhaustive examination to confirm the safety of U.S. beef and these audits must constitute the final step," Johanns said. "We have instituted numerous changes in our system, answered every question posed by Japan, and delivered an abundance of factual, science-based assurances that U.S. beef is safe. It is time for beef trade to resume with Japan."



Source: Bill Tomson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-646-0088; [email protected]
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