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Japan.........Too Slow

Mike

Well-known member
Japan's Beef Market Is Opening Too Slowly, USDA's Conner Says

By Alan Bjerga

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's refusal to open its market to U.S. beef is frustrating trade officials in advance of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's U.S. visit in November, Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner told reporters.

``The market should be open by now,'' Conner told reporters today in Washington after speaking to a meeting of the Meat Export Federation, a trade group representing Tyson Foods Inc., Swift & Co., Sara Lee Corp. and others. ``Progress, of course, has been slower than we'd like.''

Japan suspended shipments from a Cargill Inc. plant on Oct. 17 after a leg tendon was found in a cargo of 9 metric tons. The nation was the largest buyer of U.S. beef before the first U.S. case of mad-cow disease was found in 2003. Japan now only imports beef from younger animals that scientists say have a lower risk of disease.

Japan imported about 30,000 tons of beef from the U.S. in the first nine months of this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Bjerga in Washington at [email protected] .

Last Updated: October 29, 2007 13:59 EDT
 

Mike

Well-known member
Conner vows to keep working on Asian beef markets
Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 9:16 AM

by Peter Shinn

Acting U.S. Ag Secretary Chuck Conner addressed the U.S. Meat Export Federation's (USMEF) Global Outlook Forum in Washington D.C. Monday. He touted gains in U.S. beef and pork exports this year and vowed to keep working on restoring normal beef trade between the U.S. and Asian nations.

Conner said U.S. pork exports are up 6% so far this year, with beef exports up 17% to around 500,000 tonnes. And he suggested the World Organization for Animal Health's (OIE) designation of the U.S. as a nation at controlled risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in May had proven helpful. Still, Conner noted more work needs to be done on re-opening Asian markets to U.S. beef.

"The progress of course - of course - has been slower than we would have like and this has been an issue that is going to require a focused, patient and a persistent effort to resolve at a government-to-government level," said Conner. "I want you to know, ladies and gentlemen, that we remain very, very committed to getting this job done."

But it now appears the OIE designation may not carry much weight with Japan. That's what USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Ellen Terpstra told Dow Jones in an interview Monday. According to Dow Jones, Japanese negotiators have told USDA they're reluctant to lift restrictions on U.S. beef because the OIE didn't designate the U.S. as a country at negligible risk for BSE. Japan currently accepts only boneless U.S. beef from cattle 20 months of age and younger.

Nevertheless, Conner pointed out to the USMEF conference Monday that U.S. red meat exports are an important part of over all U.S. ag exports. He said total U.S. ag exports are expected to come in at $79 billion, a new record, and that beef, pork and lamb exports are expected to make up $5.2 billion, or 6.6%, of that total.


Related Links:
U.S. Meat Export Federation
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