Japan has agreed to lift its ban on US beef imports, pending planned inspections of US meat processing plants, an agriculture ministry official said yesterday.
The breakthrough resolves a thorny, long-running trade dispute between the allies, and gives US ranchers access to what was once their most lucrative export market. Japan imposed the ban in January amid concerns about mad cow disease.
The accord came after a video conference between the two sides, said agriculture ministry official Hiroaki Ogura.
"Japan agreed to resume US beef imports on the condition that we find no further problems during onsite inspections," Ogura said, without giving further details about the inspections.
US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer welcomed the outcome, saying that he was hopeful that the outcome would lead to an import resumption.
Schieffer said he was "hopeful this is an indication that we're now on the road to resumption."
Kyodo News agency reported that the inspections are meant to ensure that US processing facilities conform with Japanese food safety guidelines. Officials from Japan's health and agriculture ministries will inspect 35 meatpacking plants certified to ship beef to Japan to see if they are complying with export requirements, Kyodo said, citing government officials.
Only facilities whose safeguards meet Japanese standards will be authorized to export to Japan, the report said. Japanese officials will also be allowed to accompany US counterparts on spot inspections of US facilities, it added. The accord requires the US side to conduct the spot inspections.
In addition, stepped up customs procedures will also crack down on possible illegal imports of unapproved shipments.
US beef shipments to Japan were halted after Japanese officials found a veal shipment containing backbone, which Tokyo considers a risk for mad cow disease. The cuts are eaten in the US and elsewhere, but Japan's rules are stricter.
US negotiators had asked Japan to resume beef trade if similar mistakes could be prevented. If a violation is found, the US wants Japan to restrict shipments only from an individual meatpacking company and not all US processing companies.
The video conference between the sides was being held by Japanese Agriculture Ministry Consumption Safety Director Hiroshi Nakagawa and his US Agriculture Department counterpart, Chuck Lambert.
At stake was a trading relationship worth millions of dollars to the US beef industry. Japan's market was worth US$1.4 billion annually when it banned American beef in response to the first US case of mad cow disease in 2003.
The ban had only recently been lifted before Japan again halted shipments.
The US Agriculture Department says that New York-based Atlantic Veal & Lamb and a government inspector misunderstood new trade rules when they allowed prohibited veal to be shipped to Japan.
US officials had been impatient for trade to resume, with several senators saying on Tuesday they are introducing a bill that would impose trade sanctions if Japan does not reopen its market to US beef by Aug. 31.
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