USDA: US "Ready" To Resume Beef Trade With Japan
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--The U.S. is "ready" to resume beef trade with Japan, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Monday, but he offered no timetable for when such trade might resume.
Johanns told a group of reporters following a Chicago Council on Foreign Relations luncheon that the U.S. has jumped through a number of hoops in an attempt to resume beef exports to Japan and that the U.S. is "ready" to start shipping beef to Japan again.
The U.S. is currently auditing U.S. beef producers to make sure they are in compliance with rules governing potential exports to Japan. Johanns said those inspections will be completed probably "within the next week."
Once those audits are complete and the USDA shares the data collected with the Japanese government, Johanns said he hopes Japan can then focus on the final tasks it needs to complete prior to reopening its market to U.S. beef.
Johanns said Congress has really "lost its patience" on the delay in resuming beef shipments to Japan.
If the delay in reopening the Japanese market continues to drag on, Congress may intervene, he said.
"There's a point at which Congress will take action. It won't be pleasant for anyone. Let's not go there," he said.
On Jan. 20, Japan stopped importing U.S. beef because a shipment contained material prohibited in a deal reached between the two governments. The trade halt came about a month after Japan had eased a two-year beef on U.S. beef. That original ban was slapped on the U.S. in reaction to the first discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in the U.S.
Source: Angie Pointer; Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4075; [email protected]
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--The U.S. is "ready" to resume beef trade with Japan, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Monday, but he offered no timetable for when such trade might resume.
Johanns told a group of reporters following a Chicago Council on Foreign Relations luncheon that the U.S. has jumped through a number of hoops in an attempt to resume beef exports to Japan and that the U.S. is "ready" to start shipping beef to Japan again.
The U.S. is currently auditing U.S. beef producers to make sure they are in compliance with rules governing potential exports to Japan. Johanns said those inspections will be completed probably "within the next week."
Once those audits are complete and the USDA shares the data collected with the Japanese government, Johanns said he hopes Japan can then focus on the final tasks it needs to complete prior to reopening its market to U.S. beef.
Johanns said Congress has really "lost its patience" on the delay in resuming beef shipments to Japan.
If the delay in reopening the Japanese market continues to drag on, Congress may intervene, he said.
"There's a point at which Congress will take action. It won't be pleasant for anyone. Let's not go there," he said.
On Jan. 20, Japan stopped importing U.S. beef because a shipment contained material prohibited in a deal reached between the two governments. The trade halt came about a month after Japan had eased a two-year beef on U.S. beef. That original ban was slapped on the U.S. in reaction to the first discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in the U.S.
Source: Angie Pointer; Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4075; [email protected]