October 26, 2004

US Hopes Japan Beef Trade Deal Opens Other Markets In Asia

With a preliminary agreement to restart beef trade with Japan reached this weekend in Tokyo, the US is hoping similar deals could be reached in South Korea and other Asian countries still banning US beef.

The team of negotiators led by US Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services J.B. Penn did not leave Asia after brokering a deal with Japan. Instead, they are seeking meetings in South Korea, Taiwan and perhaps other countries, USDA spokeswoman Julie Quick said Monday.

Gregg Doud, chief economist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said he was optimistic Penn's team would not only secure beef trade deals with other Asian countries but also resuming US beef sales with these nations before the end of the year.

"There is a lot of effort that has been going on besides (with) Japan in the last several months. Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea are three markets I think that we should also see trade resume before the end of the year," Doud said. "I think there's some real potential there."

Both Japan and South Korea banned US beef 10 months ago after the country discovered a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease.

While Japan was the largest foreign market for US beef in 2003, South Korea was the third-largest, behind Mexico. The US exported 228,785 metric tons of beef to South Korea last year, worth about $751 million, according to USDA data compiled by the US Meat Export Federation.