June 22, 2004

Japan Imported Beef Prices Up 7.5%

Retail prices of imported beef rose 7.5% in Japan. Domestically produced beef increased 5.7% in the first six months of Japan's ban on U.S. beef imports due to the discovery of mad cow disease, the government said Monday.

But the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it sees beef prices as fairly stable, noting that they have not been steadily growing.