Tam, "If there was so much money to be made then the Packers would likely do it but while the TEST KIT cost is $20 what would the delay time cost them."

Creekstone pushed the pencil and figured they could make a buck catering to the Japanese......   In case you haven't figured it out, the big packers are fighting anything that disrupts their vision of keeping beef simple, generic, and a minimum of frills.  They want consumers world-wide to take what is given them without making any demands.  If Cargill and Tyson don't want to mess with testing, fine, they don't have to.  For them to throw their weight against Creekstone and the others is pure BS.  What really gets my goat is that the USDA is doing their bidding.  That is simply unacceptable.

Tam, "What is R-CALF going to do if the packers can't recoop the test cost from the consumers and starts paying less for the cattle. Consumers aren't going to pay much more for beef when they can get their protein needs elsewhere."

First of all, the Japanese told Creekstone they would pay for the tests.  Secondly, R-CALF (and anybody that gives more than lip service to free enterprise) are only asking that packers be allowed to test - not mandating it.  If a consumer doesn't want to pay the extra for tested beef, they don't have to.  If a packer can't make any money testing, they don't have to.