Yet another Japan U.S. story

[kato]

from ranchers.net today. Not sure of the source, but it makes good reading.

US Bush administration and Japan are said to have worked out a tentative deal on testing cattle for BSE that should open the way for beef trade between those two countries to resume. And, the deal would give both sides a "win" or a way to "save face" on this sensitive issue.

Reliable sources signal there will be 20-month cut-off point for the age of cattle to be tested. In other words, animals 20 months old or younger would be excluded from testing. This is clearly a change from Japan's current blanket testing policy.

There is a second step to the plan which we're told would have the age limit exclusion move to 30 months or younger after an initial six-month period expires.

Contacts advise this gives Japan a "face-saving" way out and gives the US the same thing after the initial six-month period passes...testing that reverts back to 30 months. Contacts also say it will take a couple months to get things geared up.

However, the tentative deal is not without some concerns. Contacts say that one potential concern lies with the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). They apparently have aligned themselves with the political opposition party in Japan which is against lifting their current blanket testing requirements.

This development is causing concern with US trade officials such as Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, USDA Secretary Ann Veneman and groups such as the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Sources say that Veneman and Zoellick this morning met with Japan's ambassador to the United States to make sure the tentative agreement will hold.

One key concern that has been expressed by the US packing industry relates to how offals will be handled under the deal. Contacts say that offals will be allowed from animals 30 months or younger because there is no concern there about specified risk materials (SRMs). This was a major source of concern for packers as they note that's where a chunk of their margins are on cattle. Packers currently separate offals from animals that are 30 months of age or younger.

It appears boxed beef shipments would be the first ones to resume as there are no concerns about SRMs on that front.

When will this deal be announced? We're told that US President George Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will meet in New York September 21-22 on the edges of a UN meeting and that will be the setting to get a deal announced.

Clearly, the US wants to get shipments moving to Japan within a few weeks after a deal is announced around September 21 or 22, as US officials want to get that six-month clock started on the testing side as soon as possible.

[farmers_son]

Japan discovered their 14th BSE positive today. Last time they had a positive it drove down the price of our fat cattle. Time will tell if that will happen this time or how it will affect the BSE talks between Japan and the U.S.

[kato]

Here's another one.

Testing still separates Japan, U.S. on beef battle

The Food Safety Commission's apparent change of heart over the testing regimen for mad cow disease suggests Japan may be closer to resuming beef imports from the United States, though the two sides remain apart.
In accordance with a report last week from the commission, which operates under the Cabinet Office, the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to offer to exclude slaughtered beef cattle aged 20 months or younger from bovine spongiform encephalopathy screening tests in the United States, official sources said.

Before talks between Koizumi and President George W. Bush in New York on Sept. 21, both governments will try to make progress on the issue, but this could be difficult as the U.S. side wants to see more cows excluded from screening.

"Japan and the United States are unable to narrow their differences," a source close to the negotiations said.

In telephone talks with a Foreign Ministry official in late August, a U.S. Agriculture Department official said the final U.S. position is to seek the exclusion of cattle aged 24 months or under from screening tests.

This represents a major compromise by the United States, which had insisted that no screening is necessary for cattle up to 30 months.

Washington also pledged to remove dangerous parts, including brains and spinal cords, from beef to be exported to Japan, regardless of their age.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman told those around her on Aug. 26 that Japan will not demand that all beef cattle be screened, exhibiting her confidence that the compromise will pave the way for the resumption of the beef trade between the two countries.

However, Japanese consumer groups have reacted negatively to the Food Safety Commission offer to ease testing, saying all beef should be screened.

Outside experts have also questioned the proposal. "Cattle that test positive at 21 months might also have tested positive at 19 months," reckoned Shinichi Fukuoka, a professor at Aoyama Gakuin University.

Japan banned U.S. beef in December after the first BSE case in the United States was confirmed. It has since insisted that U.S. cattle slaughtered for beef be subject to blanket testing in the same way as slaughtered cattle in Japan.

At recent bilateral unofficial negotiations, a Japanese official asked the U.S. side why Washington could not agree to set the minimum age at 20 months, although the U.S. has compromised at 24 months, angering U.S. officials present, official sources said.

The Japan Times: Sept. 15, 2004