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Anonymous
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Today 7/4/2005 10:22:00 AM
Jolley: Does Japanese Beef Trade Hinge On The Board Room Or The Back Room?
How serious are the Aussies about keeping their share of the beef market in Asia? Dead serious. They're putting more international marketing money on the table as we wrestle in the courts over funds to just cover the U.S.
Here's a quote from an article in the Adelaide Advertiser called Mad cow campaign needs beefing up. "The transaction levy paid by beef cattle farmers is set to rise by more than 40 per cent to fund a marketing campaign to shore up export markets, following confirmation of a second case of mad cow disease in the US."
The article mentioned Australian beef imports to Japan had jumped 41% to a record $2.2 billion and 90% of Japan's beef imports – more than half of Australia's export business.
Beef Industry Funding Steering Committee Chairman Don McDonald said, "Because Australia is free of this disease (BSE), there could be opportunities for us to take and hold more of the Japanese market, because the US will be kept out for a while longer. But while there could be some short-term benefits, disease in any food chain doesn't inspire confidence," he said.
McDonald's double-sided comment, at once both aggressive in expressing his intent to retain Asian market share and conciliatory in his desire to retain a solid relationship with his friends in the U.S., speaks to the common corporate ownership of the majority of the processing industry in both countries.
The key issue might not hinge on a pending Japanese decision about reopening trade with the U.S. It might not come from that proverbial smoke-filled back room where deals are traditionally made but from a few board rooms; can the world's largest packers supply Japan more profitably from North America or Australia?
Jolley: Does Japanese Beef Trade Hinge On The Board Room Or The Back Room?
How serious are the Aussies about keeping their share of the beef market in Asia? Dead serious. They're putting more international marketing money on the table as we wrestle in the courts over funds to just cover the U.S.
Here's a quote from an article in the Adelaide Advertiser called Mad cow campaign needs beefing up. "The transaction levy paid by beef cattle farmers is set to rise by more than 40 per cent to fund a marketing campaign to shore up export markets, following confirmation of a second case of mad cow disease in the US."
The article mentioned Australian beef imports to Japan had jumped 41% to a record $2.2 billion and 90% of Japan's beef imports – more than half of Australia's export business.
Beef Industry Funding Steering Committee Chairman Don McDonald said, "Because Australia is free of this disease (BSE), there could be opportunities for us to take and hold more of the Japanese market, because the US will be kept out for a while longer. But while there could be some short-term benefits, disease in any food chain doesn't inspire confidence," he said.
McDonald's double-sided comment, at once both aggressive in expressing his intent to retain Asian market share and conciliatory in his desire to retain a solid relationship with his friends in the U.S., speaks to the common corporate ownership of the majority of the processing industry in both countries.
The key issue might not hinge on a pending Japanese decision about reopening trade with the U.S. It might not come from that proverbial smoke-filled back room where deals are traditionally made but from a few board rooms; can the world's largest packers supply Japan more profitably from North America or Australia?
