US Beef: Abe to have his steak and eat it too?

April 26, 2007
By Ken Worsley

The hoopla surrounding US beef and Japan is no stranger to this site, and we plan to keep it that way. Or rather, the negotiating parties plan to keep it that way. First, on Monday, US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced that the United States will allow Japanese inspections of U.S. beef plants.

The move is aimed to put the Japanese side at ease, end blanket inspections of all US beef shipments to Japan, and hopefully, start rebuilding the formerly $1.4 billion export market that has been lost by the US beef industry (2003 figures). As Johanns put it: “Once the verification process is complete, Japan will discontinue its requirement of inspecting 100 percent of the boxes of beef shipped from U.S. plants.”

In November and December of last year, Japanese inspectors visited and approved 35 US meat-packing facilities. Two of those facilities have since been banned for failing to include proper paperwork with their shipments.

Meanwhile, the political gears churn. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to arrive for a visit to the White House later today, and Montana Democratic Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester have sent a letter to the White House requesting that Montana steaks be served to Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his delegation, in order to “make a deliciously irresistible case that Montana beef belongs in the Japanese market.”

No reply has yet been heard from the White House.

Senator Tester added his poetic flourish to the letter: “There are lots of diner choices in Washington, but nothing beats a big, red, juicy steak [from Montana]. Prime Minister Abe is in for a real treat. So are millions of Japanese, as soon as the ban is lifted.”

Senator, the ban has already been lifted, on cows under 20 months. Prove it’s safe and have those US meat packers stop making packaging errors, and you might see it go up to 30 months…but that might be another 20 months from now…

Filed Under Business, Export & Import