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Japan

Bill

Well-known member
BEEF NEWS
Scarcity of smaller cattle, high market prices suppressing beef sales in Japan

by Pete Hisey on 9/25/2006 for Meatingplace.com




U.S. beef is selling for almost as much as domestic Wagyu beef in Japan, and the "paucity" of cattle under 20 months of age has combined with high prices to suppress sales of U.S. beef in Japan, according to Phil Seng, chief executive of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

"Onerous and time-consuming" procedures at customs, which can take up to a week to clear a single shipment, are making matters worse, he added.

However, not all the news from Japan is bad, he said, speaking to reporters in the midst of a five-city tour of the country to promote U.S. beef. One bright spot is growing suspicion in Japanese scientific circles that two cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in animals aged 21 months and 23 months may not in fact have been legitimate cases. If that is true, it would undermine Japan's demand that only beef from cattle under 20 months is safe, and open up a far larger pool of cattle in the United States for possible export.

"Many scientists are skeptical about those test results," he said. "There may be enough pressure from within to create a change."

However, Japan is about to undergo a regime change, starting Tuesday when Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, already named president of the ruling party, appears certain to be elected prime minister, replacing Junichiro Koizumi. He will then name his cabinet, so new heads of the agriculture and health ministries could completely change the company's direction concerning imported beef.

Seng said that, to date, the largest selling beef cuts are the hanging tender, outside skirt, short rib, short plate and tongue.

Seng added that he expects very close scrutiny of the first series of shipments to reach South Korea sometime next month, but also expects the Koreans to relax somewhat.

USMEF is touring major cities to promote beef to both trade buyers and senior executives, and to the public as well. Each stop has so far included well-attended press conferences and increasingly favorable press. By Tuesday, when the tour ends, the organization will have met with about 800 meat buyers, about 90 percent of the universe in Japan.
 

Mike

Well-known member
However, not all the news from Japan is bad, he said, speaking to reporters in the midst of a five-city tour of the country to promote U.S. beef. One bright spot is growing suspicion in Japanese scientific circles that two cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in animals aged 21 months and 23 months may not in fact have been legitimate cases. If that is true, it would undermine Japan's demand that only beef from cattle under 20 months is safe, and open up a far larger pool of cattle in the United States for possible export.

"Many scientists are skeptical about those test results," he said. "There may be enough pressure from within to create a change."

This statement could put a strain in the relationship between the U.S., Japan along with the OIE.

Especially since the OIE set up a technical working group of OIE Reference Lab scientists to study these "Atypical" cases and found they had no link to the Italian cases which were similar. (Dec 2003)

I would think the "Legitimacy" of these test results would have been assessed at this time had they been thought "skeptical".

Since there is an "OIE Reference Lab" in Japan, why has the OIE recognized the findings of these tests?

This might get interesting.............................
 
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