U.S., Japan enter new beef trade agreement

   The U.S. and Japanese governments today have agreed on new terms and conditions which open the door for expanded exports of U.S. beef and beef products to Japan.
   Under these new terms, effective Feb. 1, Japan will permit the import of beef from cattle less than 30 months of age, compared to the previous limit of 20 months, among other steps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said “these important changes will result in hundreds of millions of dollars in exports of U.S. beef to Japan in the coming years. This agreement also goes a long way toward normalizing trade with Japan by addressing long-standing restrictions that Japan introduced in response to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).”
   The United States and Japan also agreed to regular and ad-hoc consultations to review progress under the agreement and address any issues that may arise.
   In December 2003, Japan banned U.S. beef and beef products following the detection of BSE in a cow. In July 2006, Japan partially reopened its market to allow imports of some U.S. beef from animals aged 20 months or younger produced under a special program for Japan.
   In December 2011, at the request of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the country’s independent Food Safety Commission initiated a risk assessment to examine raising the maximum age of the cattle from which U.S. and certain other foreign beef and beef products could be exported to Japan, as well as revising the definition of specified risk materials (SRMs), which are certain cattle tissues that can carry the BSE agent.
   Based on an FSC risk assessment released last October, Japan entered into consultations with the United States to revise its import requirements, including raising the age limit for U.S. cattle and adopting a revised definition of SRMs for U.S. beef and beef product imports that is closely aligned with international standards of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).