U.S. wants quick start to beef trade talks with Japan

Vilsack agreed Thursday with this Japanese counterpart, Hirotaka Akamatsu, to launch talks on beef, which he called a “significant area of disagreement” in trade relations.

Washington wants to start “as soon as possible,” Vilsack said. He said U.S. President Barack Obama's negotiating team will include trade representatives and officials from the Department of Agriculture.

“We are not there yet. We are still apart,” Vilsack said in a speech at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. “But I believe we have developed a relationship that I believe over time hopefully will result in us figuring out what we've been unable to figure out up to this point.”

Japan banned U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease was found in the United States. Shipments resumed in January 2006, but under strict restrictions.

U.S. beef shipped to Japan must come from cattle age 20 months and younger, considered less at risk for the disease. American exporters must also remove spinal columns, brain tissue and other materials from shipments bound for Japan.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative nerve disease. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.

Vilsack said American beef is safe but said trade policy under Obama better reflects local characteristics and conditions.

“So when I came here to talk to the minister yesterday, I wanted to make sure he understood that I understood the need for the United States to be sensitive to the concerns and anxieties of the Japanese consumer,” he said.

The U.S. has had no BSE cases in the last three years, and only three over the last two decades, Vilsack said. He said the government has also improved safety inspections and training over the past year.

Trade rules should be based on science and in line with international standards, Vilsack said.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email