If Mr. Stokes wants to talk about hypocracy, he can start by explaining why NCBA says trade needs to be based on science, while supporting the current trade deal we have with Japan that is not based on science.

If he is truly concerned about sacrificing long term opportunities, he should realize that is exactly what we're doing in Japan.  I'll guarantee him that nine out of ten consumers in Japan don't think our beef is the safest in the world.  How we does the USDA address that (with NCBA's blessing)?  They tell the Japanese to take our product the way we want to market it and if they don't, we'll start a trade war.  The result is offending and alienating our customers and allowing our competitor, Australia, the means of entrenching themselves deeper.   Does he really want to talk long term damage?

We've been on the NCBA/USDA/AMI's plan for three years now, and where have we gotten?  How long do we have to smell this before we admit it's a pig?  The truly sad part is that this thing was sooooooo predictable.