October 26, 2010

US hastens beef access to Japanese market

The US is providing Japan with information on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in types of beef from US cattle that Japan does not currently import, in a step toward loosening Japan's ban on US beef imports, government officials said.

The information sharing is a part of the ongoing discussions between the US and Japan on opening the Japanese market to more US beef imports, according to the USDA.

A US industry source said Japan has requested such data from the US in the past, but it is nonetheless a positive sign that Japan is serious about changing its beef import restrictions.

One possible way these data could be used would be to assess the risk posed by beef from cattle over 20 months of age, which would be the first step toward easing the current Japanese restrictions.

However, Japan could not confirm that the information gathering is being done to prepare for a risk assessment to determine if Japan should resume importing beef from cattle older than 20 months.

If Japan were to consider easing restrictions on US beef exports, its agriculture minister or health minister would have to make a request to the Food Safety Commission to conduct a risk assessment of such a proposal, a Japanese official said.

A risk assessment, however, could take more than a year to complete and would include inspection of US processing plants and a study of US BSE testing, sources said.

The Japanese official said the US has not yet provided all the information that Japan has requested and there has been no date set for another round of meetings with the US.

The information exchange arose from a meeting of US and Japanese officials last month, which the US described as technical in nature.