March 14, 2008

US beef shipments to Japan to rise by 60 percent in 2008

US beef exports to Japan are forecast to increase by 60 percent this year at 75,000 tonnes on the anticipated easing of Japanese import guidelines, a top US official said Thursday.

Japan banned US beef imports back in December 2003 due to mad cow disease reports.

In 2006, the ban was lifted, yet Japan maintained that beef imports from the US could only come from cattle aged 20 months or younger.

Philip Seng, president and CEO of the US Meat Export Federation, said he cannot fully predict the outcome of the US-Japan trade discussions, yet he assumes that the increase of exports to Japan would happen in the last half of 2008.

Seng was on a regular visit to Japan, the top foreign buyer of US beef before the 2003 ban, when it bought US$1.4 billion worth of the meat.

The US has been pressing Japan to lift its age limit rules following the World Organization for Animal Health¡¯s (OIE) declaration that US beef is under a controlled risk status.

Japan-bound beef exports have been slow to recover, largely due to the age limit.

Japanese government figures show that beef imports from the US amount to about 34,100 tonnes in 2007, only a fraction of the 240,000 tonnes supplied in 2003.

Seng expressed frustration that the US beef industry has been unable to take advantage of the dollar's weakness against the yen over the past year, which would have boosted US exports to Japan.