April 5, 2007

 

US cattle age limit: Japan not ready but South Korea positive

 

 

It is too early for discussions on ditching the age limit of US beef cattle, said Japan's farm minister to his US counterpart, revealed a Japanese ministry official  on Wednesday.

 

The official quoted Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka as telling US Trade Representative Susan Schwab on Tuesday that Japan had not yet completed its inspection of US meat packing facilities.

 

Matsuoka was responding to Schwab's request that Japan relax its current rule which only allows imports of US beef from cattle aged up to 20 months.

 

The rule was part of the terms of the agreement for Japan's resumption of US beef trade, which was halted after the United States reported its first case of mad cow disease.

 

Washington is pressing Tokyo to relax the age rule, which has limited the supply of eligible beef exports to Japan, a top export market for the US meat before Tokyo imposed a ban on shipments in December 2003.

 

The ministry official said Japan had inspected some of the authorised US meat packing plants in December 2006, but that no date has yet been set for a second round of checks, which Tokyo says is necessary before fresh discussion on trade terms can take place.

 

The United States has approved 35 meatpackers as beef exporters to Japan, but Tokyo took one facility off the list after it exported an ineligible cargo.

 

Although American beef has been available since Japan lifted the ban in July 2006, the United States is far from recovering its previous status as one of the top foreign suppliers of the meat, due in part to an insufficient quantity that meets the age rule.

 

Washington has stepped up its pressure on Japan after the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said in a preliminary ruling in March that the United States is a "controlled risk" country for BSE. The OIE's final decision is expected in May.

 

The United States is eager to further open the market in Japan, which purchased $1.4 billion-worth of beef in 2003.

 

Meanwhile, South Korea could ease import rules that will allow US bone-in beef to reach consumers by the end of the year, an official source said Tuesday.

 

According to the source, the agriculture ministry said that if the US asks for negotiations to rewrite Seoul's beef import standards in June, changes could be made within three to four months.

 

The remark by the official, who declined to be identified, came only a day after Agriculture Minister Park Hong-soo said Seoul will renegotiate import rules, but hinted that it could take some time.

 

South Korea had banned US beef in December 2003 after a mad cow case was reported.