Japanese consumers interested in independent cattle producer

[Tommy]

Japanese consumers interested in independent cattle producers

Colorado Springs, Co. — Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct, will join the likes of Steve Forbes, Bill Gates, Jack Welch and Michael Eisner by appearing on one of Japan's premier financial TV shows to explain the efforts of independent U.S. beef producers to raise the finest quality beef possible.
A feature segment on the topic is being planned to precede the expected re-opening of the border to beef trade between the two countries. Trade was suspended following the first U.S. discovery of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) — commonly called mad cow disease — in December 2003.
The show will appear on TV Tokyo, one of six Japanese television networks and the one responsible for producing Japan's only daily business and economic news programs, "World Business Satellite" and "News Morning Satellite." These programs average 5-6 million daily viewers, including Japanese business leaders and influential politicians, many of them among the most affluent and highly educated in the country.
"Our viewers (Japanese consumers) are involved in the U.S. beef industry by importing from the large meatpackers who are unfairly reducing the benefit for individual farmers and ranchers," says producer Chiori Iwaki. "So I would like to provide more information about U.S. beef production, and I hope the information which we will provide will help to make a difference for the U.S. beef market."
The producer describes U.S. ranchers like Callicrate as "unsung heroes who are working hard for the best beef in the world."
Recent surveys in Japan indicate that 67 percent of consumers there believe the ban on U.S. imports should not be lifted. Despite public fears, the country's Food Safety Commission has agreed that the risk of mad cow disease in young U.S. and Canadian cattle is "very low" with proper slaughter procedures, making it comparable to the risk in domestic Japanese beef. That review is expected to open the way for imports of younger cattle to resume by year's end.
In recent months, Ranch Foods Direct has hosted several visiting trade teams from Japan.

 

[Tommy]

JPN - 67% against US beef



67% oppose lifting of ban on U.S. beef imports

The Asahi Shimbun

10/26/2005

Japan



Sixty-seven percent of people said Japan should not lift its ban on U.S. beef imports, underlining the public's continued concerns about the dangers of mad cow disease, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.



The figure was 63 percent in a similar poll conducted in October last year.



The Food Safety Commission earlier agreed that the risk of mad cow disease in young U.S. and Canadian cattle is "very low" if the dangerous parts are removed. The risk would be about the same as in Japanese beef, according to the commission.



This means the government could resume imports of U.S. and Canadian beef from cattle slaughtered at 20 months or younger without BSE testings by the end of this year.



But only 21 percent of the respondents in the latest survey approved the plan, a decrease from 26 percent in October last year.



The survey was conducted on people aged 20 or older randomly selected across the nation on Saturday and Sunday.



The newspaper received responses from 1,998, or 62 percent, of those surveyed.



About 74 percent of women and 59 percent of men in the survey opposed the resumption of beef imports.



Even if beef imports are resumed, 67 percent said they would not eat U.S. beef, compared with 23 percent who said yes, a decrease from 28 percent in the previous survey.



Broken down, 77 percent of women and 56 percent of men want to stay away from U.S. beef, according to the survey.



Even among those in favor of the lifting of the ban, 25 percent do not want U.S. beef in their meals, the survey showed.



However, 47 percent of men in their 20s said they would want to eat U.S. beef, while 47 percent said they would not want to do so.



In addition, 81 percent of respondents supported the idea of requiring stores and restaurants to provide information on the source of their beef.



No such measures are currently in place.Imports of U.S. beef were banned in December 2003 and those from Canada in May that year following the discovery of cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in those countries.





(IHT/Asahi: October 26,2005)

asahi.com

 

[rancher]

Japan In No Hurry To Lift U.S. Beef Ban



TOKYO (AP)--Japan is in no hurry to lift its two-year ban on U.S. beef imports, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday, after a government panel delayed a decision earlier this week on whether to declare American beef safe for consumption in Japan.



Speaking at a parliamentary debate, Koizumi rebuffed the opposition Democratic Party of Japan's assertion that a visit by President George W. Bush next month will hasten Tokyo's decision to restart U.S. beef imports.



"It doesn't have to be resolved by then. That is a misperception," Koizumi told DPJ leader Seiji Maehara.