June 2, 2008

Japan announces safeguard measure for 2008-09
    

Japan's Ministry of Finance has set the safeguard trigger levels of beef for the current Japanese Fiscal Year (JFY), which runs from April 2008 to March 2009.

The safeguard for JFY 2008 is based on an average of imports in JFY 2002 and 2003. Should the trigger level based on the JFY 2002 and 2003 import average be lower than the trigger level calculated on the basis of imports in JFY 2007, the 2007 figure will be used instead.

The safeguard is a mechanism agreed to as part of the Uruguay Round of World Trade Organisation negotiations, allowing Japan to increase tariffs when beef imports rise substantially. The beef tariff would go up to 50 percent from 38.5 percent for the remainder of the JFY once the trigger level is exceeded.

It is unlikely that the trigger levels would be exceeded this for the first quarter of JFY 2008 due to lower Australian beef imports and current cattle age restrictions on US beef imports.

The first quarter of the year is the most crucial period as the risk of triggering safeguard falls subsequently, with the volume calculated on a cumulative quarterly basis.