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US Beef to Japan Next Week?

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Anonymous

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Today 7/21/2006 1:16:00 PM


US Beef Shipments To Japan Could Resume Next Week



TOKYO (Nikkei)--U.S. beef imports are poised to resume as early as next week, six months after a ban was reinstated in January, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in its Saturday morning edition.



The formal decision will be made as soon as Japanese government representatives visiting the U.S. complete their monthlong inspection of American meat-processing plants Friday.



The government will scrutinize the results and then approve shipments from facilities that clear the inspections.



Tokyo reinstated the ban on U.S. beef imports in January after backbone parts, which are thought to carry a high risk of mad cow disease infection, were found in a shipment. The resumption of U.S. beef imports had been predetermined in June on the condition that Japanese inspectors would check the operations of the meat-processing facilities.



Inspectors from the Health and Agriculture ministries left for the U.S. on June 24. Both ministries will compile a report on the inspections and brief leaders of the ruling coalition parties next week. Facilities that pass muster will be allowed to ship beef to Japan, but those with problems will have to wait until they make improvements.



However, it is unclear how much U.S. beef will hit the Japanese market, because consumers are still wary about the safety of the meat.



Source: Dow Jones Newswire
 

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
Some meat firms reject Japanese inspections
Many smaller plants decide rules are not worth trouble, though they'd like to export

The Associated Press Jul 15, 2006


OMAHA, Neb. -- When Japan banned U.S. beef in 2003 because of mad-cow fears, the industry braced for a financial hit. It feared job losses spilling into Midwest feedlots, supply companies and retail businesses.

So when Japan agreed to lift the ban -- contingent on Japanese checks of U.S. beef plants many assumed that the inspectors would be welcomed everywhere with open arms.

While 35 American beef processing plants are submitting to the inspections, thousands of other plants have opted out, deciding not to bother with exporting.

That's because although many small and midsize processing plants would like a part of the export market, most smaller plants lack the resources needed to comply with international trade regulations and don't produce enough beef to be competitive with large meat processors such as Tyson Foods Inc.

Opening up additional export markets should help the entire beef industry regardless of how many plants actually export meat, because beef demand and prices probably will increase, said Janet Riley, spokeswoman for the American Meat Institute, which represents about 1,100 companies.

Japanese inspectors began visiting U.S. beef processing plants June 24 after an agreement was brokered to restore the once-lucrative beef trade with Japan that used to account for about $1.4 billion a year and 10 percent of U.S. beef sales.

The one-month audit will tour 35 meatpacking plants to ensure that the facilities comply with Japanese import regulations. Inspectors also will review procedures at ranches, feedlots and mills.

All beef shipped to Japan will have to come from cattle less than 20 months old, and no brain or spinal material can be included. That tissue is known to carry mad-cow disease.

Mad-cow disease is the common name for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. Eating contaminated meat products is linked to a rare but fatal human disease called variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease.

The Japanese inspections are scheduled to continue through next week, and U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Ed Loyd said U.S. officials hope Japan will lift its ban within weeks.
 
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