U.S. and Japan Reach Framework Agreement to Resume Trade in Certain Beef, Etc
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that the U.S. and Japan have reached a framework agreement that will permit the resumption of trade in certain beef between the two countries following a ten-month interruption that resulted from a finding of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a single cow that had been slaughtered in December 2003 in Washington state.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
The USDA states that trade of certain beef between the U.S. and Japan will resume as soon as possible, following completion of regulatory processes in both countries.
U.S. Beef Exports to Japan to Resume under an Interim Marketing Program, Etc.
The USDA states that Japan is now revising its domestic regulations to alter its BSE cattle testing requirements and other procedures.
In addition, the U.S. will establish a marketing program that enables a resumption of some beef trade for an interim time period. Under the program, the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will certify that exported products meet the terms of the framework agreement.
Although the operational details of such a Beef Export Verification (BEV) program will be further worked out by U.S. and Japanese experts, major points of the program include: (i) specified risk materials (SRMs) must be removed from animals of all ages, (ii) beef items, including offals and variety meats, must be derived from bovine animals verified to be 20 months of age or younger, (iii) etc.
According to the USDA, this marketing program will be evaluated by the countries in July 2005 and modified as appropriate.
Imports of Japanese Specialty Beef to Be Permitted Following U.S. Rulemaking
According to the USDA, the U.S. will initiate rulemaking procedures in order to permit the importation of Japanese specialty beef. This will entail a risk assessment by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection of Japanese processing facilities, among other considerations.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 12/30/03 news, 03123010, for BP's update on the BSE case, including a list of countries (including Japan) banning U.S. beef at that time.)
USDA press release (No. 0465.04, dated 10/23/04) available at http://www.usda.gov/documents/NewsReleases/2004/10/0465.doc
USDA Q&As (No. qa0465.04, dated 10/24/04) available at http://www.usda.gov/documents/NewsReleases/2004/10/qa0465.doc
Joint U.S.-Japan press statement highlighting various provisions of the framework agreement (dated 10/23/04) available at http://www.usda.gov/documents/NewsReleases/2004/10/0464.doc