Agricultural News
USMEF's Phil Seng Calls Vilsack Plan to Deal With Japanese on Widening US Beef Access "Realistic"
Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:11:05 CDT
During the George W. Bush years, we heard more than once from USMEF President Phil Seng that the Republican Administration was not going to get very far with the Oriental mindset by demanding a complete and full reopening- all at once. Seng told several times that the culture there prefers an incremental process- and as a result, the Japanese market remains open only to US beef from animals 21 months of age and younger.
With Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in Japan this week- Seng says that Vilsack's comments about wanting to widen access for US beef on a step by step basis is a realistic way to get more US beef into Japan. He adds that Tom Vilsack's visit this week to Japan is the first by a sitting USDA Secretary since 2003 and an important gesture on behalf of U.S. farmers and ranchers.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has talked about a partial reopening for US beef into Japan- getting the Japanese to accept US beef from animals 30 months of age or younger. Their Chief Economist, Dr. Gregg Doud, claims that could deliver a billion dollar increase in US sales of beef into that nation once it was fully put into place.
Vilsack is scheduled to talk with his Japanese counterparts about beef trade before the week is out. Covering his movements in Japan is colleague Stewart Doan, who files the audio report you can hear by clicking on the Listen Bar below.
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