(NAFB) – Nineteen U.S. Senators, including Ag Committee chairman Blanche Lincoln and Senator Mike Johanns, have introduced a resolution pressing Japan to lift its partial ban on U.S. beef. The resolution states Japan should immediately expand market access for U.S. beef products and urges the Obama Administration to insist on increased market access from Japan.Senator Lincoln says – these non-tariff trade barriers from Japan must be brought down. Senator Johanns adds – for too long, Japan has been grossly unfair in its treatment of U.S. beef and beef producers for reasons that defy scientific rationalization. Japan must remove its non-scientific barriers to our beef sales.
Japan originally closed its borders to all American beef products in 2003 citing Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy concerns. Since enactment of the ban, from 2004-2009, U.S. beef exports to Japan averaged approximately 196-million dollars. That’s less than 15 percent of the 2003 level of 1.4 billion. Japan currently limits its imports of U.S. beef to only boneless beef from cattle aged 20 months and younger.
