July 19, 2012

Japan to ease US beef import restrictions in November

In order to make it easier for Tokyo to take part in Washington-led trans-Pacific free trade talks, Japan is expected to relax restrictions on imports of US beef as early as November, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday (July 18).

Currently Japan allows imports of US beef only from cattle aged 20 months or younger, but given ebbing global concerns about mad cow disease, Japan's Food Safety Commission (FSC) is assessing the risk of easing that limit to 30 months.

The rules, in place since 2005, permitted US beef imports after a total ban in 2003, but have capped US shipments while Australian beef has largely retained its dominant share of Japan's 500,000 tonnes-a-year market for imported beef.

The commission's panel of experts is scheduled to discuss a draft report on the risk of relaxing the age limit on July 24. If finalised, the report would be open to public comments before submission to the Health Ministry, a commission official said. The ministry had asked for recommendations on this issue last December.

The business daily said the commission's report would recommend relaxing the age limit to 30 months or younger, the international standard.

US meat exporters have said they expected Japan to relax its import restrictions this year.