AMI Beef Alert - U.S. And Japan Announce Agreement To Resume Beef Trade
U.S. and Japanese officials today announced an agreement to resume U.S. beef and beef variety meat exports to Japan from cattle under 21 months of age.
The agreement marks the beginning of trade restoration between the two nations after Japan suspended U.S. beef ten months ago when a single case of BSE was discovered in an imported cow in Washington State on December 23, 2003.
Under the agreement, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will establish a special export verification program for beef efforts to Japan. Age determination will be made through a combination of records and physiological means. Japan now is revising domestic regulations to alter its BSE cattle testing requirements and other procedures.
As part of the agreement, the U.S. also will resume imports of specialty beef from Japan following U.S. rulemaking.
Over the coming year, the Office of International Epizootics (OIE) will conduct a review of U.S. cattle production and beef safety that will be released in July 2005. At that time, U.S. and Japanese governments will review the interim program. U.S. officials expect that the OIE review will lead to full restoration of beef trade with Japan.
Japan was the largest market for U.S. beef and products with sales in 2003 before the ban was imposed exceeding $1.7 billion.
AMI President J. Patrick Boyle welcomed the news. “We are encouraged by the interim breakthrough on U.S. Japan beef trade, announced today by the governments of the U.S. and Japan. U.S. negotiators are to be commended for their perseverance in seeking a restoration of trade,” he said.
“The multiple firewalls that we have established to prevent and contain BSE if it did occur here have served us well. Despite enhanced BSE surveillance, which began in June 2004, none of the thousands of tests that have been done have detected a single, additional case of BSE in the U.S,” Boyle said. "We welcome the full review of our cattle and beef production practices by the Office of International Epizootics that was announced today. We are confident that upon the completion of that review in July 2005, the U.S. and Japan can reestablish full beef trade.”
The U.S. trade delegation, led by Dr. J. B. Penn, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, included other officials from USDA, the Department of State, Food and Drug Administration, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The Japanese interagency delegation was led by Mr. Kenichiro Sasae, Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For more information visit http://www.meatami.com/
Chef2Chef News Desk