NCBA to USDA: Don’t Take Japanese Beef Until Japan Takes U.S. Beef

NCBA on Aug. 19 said it will not support finalization of a proposed rule from USDA that would allow for the importation of Japanese beef.  The framework for an agreement to resume trade signed in October 2004 between both countries called for the United States to also accept beef from Japan.  Beef from Japan was banned after the 2001 discovery of BSE in the domestic herd there.  

“Until Japan has completed its process and accepts beef from the United States, until both countries can agree to World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines, any beef product coming into the United States should meet the same requirements Japan has set for us,” said NCBA President Jim McAdams.  He is a cattleman from Adkins, Texas. 

Historically, the United States imported about 19,000 pounds of beef per year from Japan, or about half a semi-truckload.  The highest amount was 33,510 pounds in  1999.  Most of what is imported from Japan is Kobe beef, which is aimed at a specialty market given its price of about $45 per pound.

The proposed rule would allow imports of boneless beef from Japan into the United States if the product meets all U.S. safety standards, including removal of specified risk material (SRM). 

“There is no scientific basis for continued restrictions on boneless beef when safeguards are in place,” McAdams said. 

BSE infectivity has never been found in muscle tissue.  For these reasons, the United States has repeatedly called on Japan to open the border to U.S. beef, and NCBA calls for this action simultaneous to allowing imports of Japanese beef into the U.S.

Progress on the issue seems to have bogged down in the midst of Japanese elections, scheduled for September.  Some Japanese officials continue to ask for more information about testing or SRM removal procedures.  

“At NCBA's continued urging, re-establishing beef exports is at the top of the trade agenda at the White House, USDA and Congress,” McAdams said.

The president, secretary of state, secretary of agriculture, U.S. trade representative and several senators and congressman are actively pursuing this goal.  NCBA also has traveled to Japan to meet with government officials to give them the assurances they need that U.S. beef is safe from BSE. 

“NCBA will not rest on this issue until there is harmonization of beef trade based on science,” McAdams said. 

The framework agreement states the “two countries will resume two-way trade in beef and beef products, subject to their respective domestic approval processes, based upon science.”