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US Loses Steam In Asian Beef Markets

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Anonymous

Guest
I thought Agman told us they would be falling all over themselves to buy US beef :roll: :wink: :lol: Looks like we are still running backwards...How about letting Creekstone and those that want to test- and implementing M-COOL so we can better segregate off this foreign product they are avoiding ours over....How many more years are we going to fumble along? :???:

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US Loses Steam In Regaining Asian Beef Markets

Today 10/11/2006 5:24:00 PM


US Loses Steam In Regaining Asian Beef Markets



WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The latest deal struck by U.S. negotiators to resume beef exports to Asia has so far yielded no new business, and trade has even taken a small step backward, with new restrictions now that more mad-cow concerns have surfaced regarding neighboring Canada.



Renewed trade relations seemed to be snowballing at the start of the year. Japan and Hong Kong had just begun importing U.S. beef after two years of no purchases, and South Korea seemed ready to do the same.



Over the following nine months, however, Japan reimposed its beef ban, then eased it again and now is buying far less than U.S. producers would like. Hong Kong sporadically stopped and restarted trade from some U.S. packers, and U.S. talks with China failed to produce a much-anticipated deal.



The U.S. still isn't selling any beef to South Korea - once the second-largest foreign market for U.S. beef - despite an agreement reached between governments a month ago.



"We anticipate working with (South) Korea and I believe we are starting to make some progress," U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns told reporters Wednesday at an alternative fuels conference in St. Louis.



But just last week Johanns had expressed frustration over the situation when he addressed a gathering of meat producers. He said that he was "still not very satisfied with where we're at with (South) Korea."



Bone Fragments And Silver Skin



The USDA, according to an official speaking on condition of anonymity, recently fired off an official letter to Seoul explaining how some of the country's restrictions aren't necessary and are holding back commerce in what should be an active trading relationship.



South Korea, despite U.S. dismay, maintains the position that it can reject or destroy any U.S. beef that contains even the smallest amount of bone fragments or other materials it believes are "specified risk materials" that can transmit mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.



South Korea's zero tolerance for bone fragments - tiny slivers of bone material considered unavoidable in large shipments - is a risk exporters aren't willing to take.



Another South Korean objection that has U.S. government officials scratching their heads is over "silver skin" - a membrane that separates muscle groups. South Korea doesn't want it in U.S. shipments, but the USDA is arguing that there is no reason to prohibit it, said a U.S. official who asked not to be named.



The U.S. is now waiting to hear back from Seoul, but in the meantime, no new USDA visits to Seoul on the matter are scheduled. A USDA delegation met with South Korean officials in September but failed to get the country to change its stance on U.S. beef.



Johanns told U.S. beef producers last week at an American Meat Institute conference: "The last I heard which is a few days ago I don't believe we shipped any beef into Korea, and I think the industry is just quietly waiting to see how this settles out."



Concerns About BSE In Canada



It was in March 2003 that Canada announced finding its first native-born cattle infected with BSE. Nine months later, in December 2003, the U.S. also reported finding its first case of BSE. USDA officials eventually said the infection had originated in Canada before the cow was sent to the U.S., but by then most importers has banned U.S. beef.



Taiwan has been buying U.S. beef since the country eased its ban in January, but registered new concerns about U.S. exports this month following new BSE cases in Canada. As of Oct. 9, U.S. shipments containing beef from Canadian cattle that were sent to the U.S. from Canada for immediate slaughter won't be eligible for export to Taiwan.



The prohibition on Canada-origin beef isn't total. Taiwan will still accept it if the cattle were imported and then fed in the U.S., but the new restriction is a reminder of how Canadian BSE problems can effect U.S. exports.



Canada has reported eight BSE cases in native-born cattle, but it was the seventh case that was particularly troubling to many. The infected cow was born more than four years after Canada implemented cattle-feed restrictions in 1997 that were supposed to prevent the spread of BSE.



That seventh case in Canada prompted the U.S. to postpone lifting its ban on older Canadian cattle, but the U.S. still imports animals that are under 30 months old as well as beef from those cattle.



As if to underscore Asian concerns over Canadian beef, the USDA issued a reminder bulletin to U.S. packers that South Korea will accept no Canadian beef in U.S. shipments.



There are no U.S. exports to South Korea now, a USDA official said, but the official reminder was published on Aug. 29 just in case trade does resume.



U.S. plants "that receive Canadian cattle for slaughter, either for direct slaughter or from feedlot," must segregate the animals, the USDA said, "to ensure Canadian beef carcasses are excluded from eligible product intended for export" to South Korea.



US Exports Remain Limited To Japan



Japan was expected to be buying much more U.S. beef by now with no restriction on cattle age, but trade is still sharply restricted to product only from very young animals under 21 months old.



It was a deal first struck in October 2004 between U.S. and Japanese negotiators and it was, at least in U.S. eyes, only meant to be a temporary solution to get trade moving before the Japanese would accept beef from cattle of all ages.



But negotiations dragged on as U.S. government officials and politicians complained about how long the process was taking.



Japan didn't begin buying U.S. beef again until December 2005, but just about a month later it halted imports again after one U.S. company shipped a prohibited product.



Now trade has resumed again but is still restricted to beef from very young cattle.



USDA's Johanns has said that increasing exports to Japan is a priority and he would like to see new bilateral negotiations this fall to make that happen, but so far nothing has been scheduled.



Source: Bill Tomson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-646-0088; [email protected]
 

Mike

Well-known member
The USDA has successfully screwed up a soup sandwich.

Me, you, Sandhusker and some others here saw it coming a mile away a few years ago. Nobody believed us........................... :???:
 

agman

Well-known member
The restrictions that are listed have nothing to do with consumer demand. Do you not know the difference? Until the bone fragment issue is resolved no U.S. packer is willing ship product to S. Korea. So much for your failed attempt to disprove my earlier comments regarding consumer demand!!!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
agman said:
The restrictions that are listed have nothing to do with consumer demand. Do you not know the difference? Until the bone fragment issue is resolved no U.S. packer is willing ship product to S. Korea. So much for your failed attempt to disprove my earlier comments regarding consumer demand!!!

I'll wait and see how you spin it a year from now... :wink: :lol: :lol:
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
The restrictions have to do with the USDA not listening to the customer and forcing their %$^damn "sound science" on our customers. The end result, as expected, is balking customers making up false concerns because nobody likes being bullied and one way or another, they're not going to take our crap.

I'd like to know why millions of advertising dollars are being spent in Japan to "win back" our customers if there is so much demand for our product. I thought they were going to "scramble to get it".
 

ocm

Well-known member
Sandhusker said:
The restrictions have to do with the USDA not listening to the customer and forcing their %$^damn "sound science" on our customers. The end result, as expected, is balking customers making up false concerns because nobody likes being bullied and one way or another, they're not going to take our crap.

I'd like to know why millions of advertising dollars are being spent in Japan to "win back" our customers if there is so much demand for our product. I thought they were going to "scramble to get it".


In psychology it's called passive aggression. It's how the "loser" beats the "winner".
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Today 10/12/2006 11:00:00 AM


US Senator Seeks OKing Blanket BSE Tests For Exports To Japan



WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., has sent a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns urging him to allow beef producers to conduct blanket testing for mad-cow disease for their exports to Japan and other countries, according to a copy of the letter made available Thursday, Kyodo News reported.



"This is vital to regaining U.S. market share in Japan, South Korea and other markets critical to U.S. beef suppliers," Bunning said in the letter dated last Friday.



The U.S. Department of Agriculture restricts testing to its own program, banning voluntary testing despite repeated requests for permission from some American meat processors so they can test all cattle for beef exports, especially to Japan to satisfy consumers there.



Japan conducts blanket testing on all slaughtered cattle.



But the U.S. tests only a small proportion of the total cattle herd because the USDA program is designed to statistically check the prevalence of the disease.



Source: Dow Jones Newswire
 

William Kanitz

Well-known member
How could they Tell? *As if to underscore Asian concerns over Canadian beef, the USDA issued a reminder bulletin to U.S. packers that South Korea will accept no Canadian beef in U.S. shipments.

Are they going to label each box of beef with the Canadain Ear Tags so the customer can search from Japan? Well?
 
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