June 16, 2006

 

US group supports retaliation against Japan's beef ban

 

 

Japan still has not said how long it will take for the country to resume importing US beef and the largest US cattle-rancher group has voted to support retaliation if there isn't an "immediate" trade resumption.

 

National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) President Mike John said after the vote held in Denver, "The last thing we want is a trade war, but at some point you just have to say enough is enough."

 

The NCBA, an influential group with several former members now in key positions at the US Department of Agriculture, group has agreed to lend its full support to retaliatory legislation drafted by Senator Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska.

 

Nelson, whose bill threatens to ban Japanese beef to punish the country for its refusal to buy US beef, announced his pleasure at getting the group's support.

 

"I'm grateful for the Cattlemen's support," Nelson said. "They know better than anyone how badly the one-sided beef embargo has hurt the US economically. In Nebraska alone, it has cost us US$875 million and the loss of 1300 jobs."

 

Japan completely banned US beef for a two-year period between Dec 2003 and Dec 2005, but trade resumed only for about a month before Japan stopped importing again.

 

That original ban was slapped on the US in reaction to the first discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, in the US Japan halted imports the second time on Jan 20, 2006 because a US shipment contained material prohibited in a deal reached between the two governments.

 

Japan has agreed so far only to import beef from cattle slaughtered before reaching 21 months old and only after all material the Japanese said is risky for BSE infection, including vertebral column, was removed.

 

The deal with Japan upset many in the US beef industry because of the extraordinary restrictions, but at the time the deal was made, USDA officials said they believed it would not take long before Japan agreed to remove them.

 

Japan was the largest foreign market for US beef in 2003.

 

USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said Wednesday that there are daily discussions between US and Japanese officials. But he also added he has not been given a timeline by Japan on when it will conduct audits on US beef packers, a step Japan has said will be necessary before it resumes imports.

 

Nelson said he wants to know when the audits will take place and he expects US President George W. Bush to take up the beef trade issue with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The two leaders are expected to meet in Washington later this month.