June 15, 2007

 

Japan's likely ease on US beef restrictions may take time

 

 

It may take some months before Japan will finally give in to relax its prohibitions on US beef imports as the current Japanese administration may not want to add pressure on its tumbling popularity as election approaches.

 

Industry players believe Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- hit by sinking popularity ratings -- will want to avoid drawing attention to what could be an unpopular decision with many voters ahead of the July upper house polls.

 

Takashi Onodera, a panel member of Food Safety Commission said the matter may only be referred to them after summer, to avoid any talks on the issue before the elections.

 

Japan's slow action on giving the green light on US beef may raise trade tensions with the United States and make US beef firms such as Tyson Foods Incorporated to wait for months or longer for sales to bounce back.

 

Under a bilateral agreement, the United States can now only export beef from cattle aged 20 months or younger. But Washington is demanding to export beef from cattle aged up to 30 months, in line with global standards.

 

Tokyo slapped a ban on US beef imports in 2003 after the first US report of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

 

The trade ban, which has been a thorny issue between the two trading partners, was first eased in late 2005.

 

Japan said this week it would stop checking all US beef cargoes, after last month's inspection on US meat packing facilities found no major violations of safety agreements.

 

Japan's monthly US beef imports have remained at 2,000 tonnes -- about 10 percent of the pre-ban level and sharply lower than the 36,023 tonnes imported in April from Australia. The United States exported 240,000 tonnes of beef to Japan in 2003.

 

Sumio Somura, senior managing executive officer at Nippon Meat Packers Inc. said imports of US beef could easily recover to 10,000 tonnes a month if the age restriction is lifted to 30 months.

 

Washington hopes a decision by the World Organization for Animal Health last month to soften its security rating on US and Canadian cattle would work to its advantage. But Japanese government officials have said while they respect the move, this in itself won't prompt a change in their stance.

 

Japan consumers, however, now appear more receptive to the return of US beef.

 

Ito-Yokado, a major supermarket chain and part of the retailer Seven & I Holdings Co., last month started test sales of American beef at two of its stores and have had positive results with the growing interest.

 

Some industry sources said the restart of partial sales by a large retailer such as Ito-Yokado could prompt others to follow suit.

 

Somura said the growing number of supermarkets selling US beef have already eased Japanese consumers' fear on the safety of meat.