Agricultural News
Hopes to Widen Access for US Beef Into Japan Shoved Back Again As Japan Loses Another Prime Minister
Wed, 02 Jun 2010 6:23:48 CDT
After just eight months on the job, the latest Prime Minister for Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, has resigned.
He was forced out after breaking an election pledge to move an unpopular US military base away from the southern island of Okinawa.
The move comes as his Democratic Party of Japan (DJP) struggles to revive its chances in an election due in July.
It's another setback for US beef cattle interests that want to see government to government negotiations move forward on allowing greater access for US Beef into Japan- and that's our subject today on the Beef Buzz.
The Japanese restrict the beef that is allowed into their country from the US to only beef that comes from animals 20 months of age or less. This stems from regulations that were put in place about five years ago- after the US had a single case of BSE- or Mad Cow Disease back in December 2003.
The international Animal Health Organization is called the OIE- and they have declared all US beef safe from BSE (from animals of any age) as long as certain specified risk materials are removed from the food supply.
The US has been working with the Japanese for years to recognize that international standard and has gotten nowhere. On the first of April- US Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack went to Japan and worked on getting this reviewed by current Japanese government- this resignation means Vilsack's groundwork in that trip has been ripped up- and will have to be redone when a new Japanese PM is in place and names a new Minister of Ag and Food in that country.
Implication is that if we could raise the Japanese age barrier from 20 months to a more normal 30 months of age- the number of beef animals that we could use to ship beef to Japan would go up sharply in the country and thtat could mean a billion dollars annually to the US cattle industry.
We talked a few weeks ago with Gregg Doud of the NCBA about the frustrations of the beef negotiaitons with Japan and he little chance of getting any movement from the Japanese on this subject before early in 2011- and that was before this latest shake up in their national government.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the listen bar below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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