May 19, 2006

 

Japan may decide on US beef import resumption in June

 

 

The Japanese government is expected to decide in June to lift its ban on US beef imports, Kyodo news service reported Thursday (May 18).

 

Citing government sources, Kyodo said the decision is likely as Japanese experts told their US counterparts earlier Thursday that they are basically content with measures Washington has taken to safeguard US beef bound for Japan against mad cow disease. 

 

Experts from the two countries have been holding technical talks since Wednesday to discuss what additional steps need to be implemented so Japan can lift the ban, which was reinstated in January.

 

They will hold a wrap-up meeting Friday during which the Japanese side may approve the US position that the country's beef is safe, the sources said, according to Kyodo.

 

Tokyo will formally decide on the restart of beef trade with the US after holding public hearings to seek support from consumers, the news service said.

 

But the actual resumption of beef trade will come only after Japan inspects 35 meatpacking facilities in the US that are certified to export beef to Japan and finds no problems, the sources said, adding the trade can be resumed around July, according to the Kyodo report.

 

During the first day of the experts meeting Wednesday, Deputy Agriculture Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programmes Chuck Lambert, who heads the US delegation, expressed hope of an early resumption of beef trade between the two countries.

 

But Japan's Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Mamoru Ishihara indicated at a news conference Thursday that Japan will take steps toward the restart of trade cautiously.

 

"This is a matter of food safety and reassurance for consumers," Ishihara said. "We have to tackle challenges step by step to win consumer confidence."

 

At the talks, the US has been answering Japan's questions about the outcome of its recent auditing at the 35 meatpacking facilities to check whether they comply with bilaterally agreed export requirements to safeguard against mad cow disease, according to Japanese officials.

 

The US has recently rechecked the meatpackers' handling of products and compliance with the export requirements, following a case of ineligible beef being exported to Japan in January that led to the fresh embargo on US beef shipments.

 

Japan has also proposed additional measures to ensure the safety of US beef, such as dispatching Japanese inspectors to US meatpacking plants and allowing them to accompany US officials during planned snap inspections at those facilities, the officials said, according to Kyodo.

 

An experts meeting was last held in late March.

 

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday he expects the beef trade to resume when appropriate conditions are met.

 

Japan, which had ended a two-year-old import ban on US beef in December, reinstated it in January after a backbone was discovered in a veal shipment at Narita airport.

 

Tokyo imposed the original ban in Dec 2003, when the US discovered its first case of the disease. Japan had been the largest importer of US beef before the embargo.