Japan Allows U.S. Beef - It's About Time

Japan Allows U.S. Beef - It's About Time

Washington, D.C. - Good news from across the Pacific came for U.S. cattlemen and beef producers on Thursday, as the Japanese government announced it would lift its ban on imports of U.S. beef. The Japanese had reinstated a ban on U.S. beef in January over their concerns about mad cow disease.

Since the first case was found in 2003 of a cow in the United States with the degenerative neurological disease Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, the Department of Agriculture and U.S. health officials have moved quickly to ensure that the American beef supply remains safe for consumption. That fact had seemed to be lost on the Japanese.

The U.S. implemented steps to prevent the spread of the disease - such as a ban on animal feeds that contain mammalian protein, the removal of specified risk materials from beef to be processed, and an enhanced surveillance system that has evaluated more than 759,000 cows. As a result, the likelihood of BSE in U.S. cattle is less than 1 case in 15.4 million head of cattle over 30 months.

These safeguards have detected the three BSE-infected cows in the U.S., and none of the cows were allowed to enter the food supply. All three were born before the feed ban had been implemented, as the feed ban continues, the likelihood of finding cattle born before that ban becomes even more remote.

These steps have ensured that the U.S. beef supply remains safe for American dinner tables, and for consumers around the world. But the Japanese continued their ban on U.S. beef for more than six months, even after our health officials demonstrated to them the extensive actions we were taking to ensure our beef is safe. It became clear that the Japanese were allowing politics and trade issues to enter into the process of determining the safety of U.S. beef.

That was particularly discouraging, but I'm glad that the Japanese have finally decided to reopen their market. Our exports of beef and beef products to Japan totaled $1.4 billion per year before the ban, so this resumption of trade will have a big impact on our export market and on the strength of our cattle prices.

But I would have liked to see this decision a long time ago. We have known since the Japanese ban was enacted that U.S. beef is safe, and I believe that the Japanese dragged their feet on this issue, causing our producers to lose market share. Unfortunately, I believe financial considerations were being made, instead of the real issues of ensuring food safety and using sound science.

I had urged the use of sound science when I met with Japanese Ambassador Ryozo Kato and other members of the House Agriculture Committee last year to encourage the end of the Japanese ban. Now we must work to end the bans in South Korea, Russia, Brazil, and other countries which still remain closed to U.S. beef. I hope that Japan's announcement will help officials in those countries see the light that the U.S. beef supply is not only safe, but the highest quality beef in the world. I will continue our work to enlighten them of this fact.

It is unfortunate that political and trade issues have to come into play in the decisions by these countries, but if they wish to turn this into a trade issue, we have tools at our disposal, including trade sanctions, to bring these issues to the attention of the South Korean, Russian, and Brazilian governments.

We should not allow foreign governments to use food safety issues as a red herring to improve their trade position. If the public believes that governments are putting financial concerns ahead of food safety, then consumers lose confidence in the safety of the food supply, and our producers needlessly lose market share as a result.

http://www.house.gov/list/speech/ok03_lucas/japanbanlifted.html