US Beef Negotiations to Continue this Week

June 25, 2007
By Ken Worsley

A few short weeks ago, the Ministry of Agriculture, Farms and Fisheries announced that U.S. beef shipment facilities were up to par with Japanese import standards, and thus there is no longer a need for the requirement that every box of American beef shipped to Japan be opened and inspected upon arrival.

That decision surprised me, since I assumed the labeling mistakes would lead the inspectors to declare the facilities unsafe, but apparently they don’t mind that so much anymore.

We’ve now reached the next step: US negotiators are heading to Japan this week for talks on Wednesday and Thursday with officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Farms and Fisheries and Health, Labor and Welfare. At issue will be whether or not Japan should lift the ban on US beef from cows aged over 20 months. The US has the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on its side (Imagine that! The US using a multilateral organization to lend itself credibility!). Back in May, the OIE ruled that the United States was a “controlled risk nation.” All countries with this designation can export beef irrespective of the animal’s age.

Japan does not want the US to make a complaint to the OIE, or even worse, the WTO. At the same time, Japan has thus far been adamant about keeping out beef from cows under the age of 20 months. Now it appears as though Japan is stuck in a position where it needs to save face; will the US allow it to lift the restriction up to 30 months, or will the US demand that all age restrictions be removed?

Domestically, of course, the Japanese side has little to worry about. Most markets still do not carry US beef, and consumers remain afraid of it. But will they stay scared long enough? When will it be time again to turn a small mis-labeling accident into an international incident?

Filed Under Export & Import, US