White House Presses Japan to Reopen Market to U.S. Beef

The Obama administration is stepping up pressure on Japan to reopen its market to American beef, in hopes of helping ranchers and meatpackers gain full access to what was once their most lucrative market.

Japan resumed American beef imports in 2006, but restricted them to meat cattle 20 months old or younger - a limit that American exporters say has no scientific basis. Japan says older animals are more prone to developing mad cow disease. Japan also bans certain body parts.

Japan, the world's largest net importer of food, abruptly banned shipments from American meat packers in 2003 after mad cow disease was discovered in one animal imported to the United States from Canada.

In 2003, Japan was the largest market for American beef, with exports of $1.4 billion; since then, American beef exports to Japan have averaged about $196 billion, or less than 15 percent of 2003 levels.

Americans note that in recent years, Japanese beef producers have found at least 36 cases of mad cow among their cattle herds while only three have been identified in the United States.

Although it may be a beneficial thing for the United States to reopen their beef trade with Japan, to not only boost our poor economy but to also help Japan's poor economy; it has many draw-backs. For example, since they have an unfortunate history of having mad cow disease amongst their cows, it would be a catastrophic event for Americans if the beef they consumed was tainted; and we can certainly not afford for that to occur. If Japan made regulations stricter, or if the United States created the reglulations for them to follow to meet our standards; it would then be a fantastic idea that would greatly benefit both the United States and Japan's economy.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/business/global/08beef.html?ref=politics