Goodlatte Calls on Japan to Reopen Market to U.S. Beef
Japanese delegation meets with House Committee Ag Chairman Bob Goodlatte.
Compiled by staff
Published: Feb 1, 2006
House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Bob Goodlatte called for the Japanese to reopen their market and urged the members of a Japanese delegation to take action quickly.
Tuesday Goodlatte met with members of the Democratic Party of Japan to discuss beef trade issues between the United States and Japan. The delegation included Kenji Yamaoka, Masahiko Yamada, Taskashi Shinohar, Mitsunori Okamoto, and Hiroko Wada. Agriculture Counselor Shin Yokoyama also accompanied the delegation.
This meeting comes 11 days after the Japanese suspended imports of U.S. beef products after finding three boxes of veal containing the backbone of the animal which is permitted in the U.S., but is not permitted in Japan. The Japanese government agreed to resume importing U.S. beef in early December 2005 after barring imports for over two years.
"Japan enjoys a tremendous trade surplus with the U.S. and I think they are very insensitive to the fact that beef is one of the U.S.'s largest exports to Japan. The U.S. maintains low tariffs, we base our decisions on sound science and we are the largest exporter and the largest importer in the world," says Goodlatte. "It is becoming more and more difficult to justify keeping our markets open when our producers don't enjoy the same benefits with other countries. Our constituents are losing patience and the Congress is losing patience. Enough is enough."
Goodlatte says the U.S. acknowledged the mistake and taken appropriate action to ensure that the company is suspended from the Beef Export Verification Program. "For the Japanese to use this one instance as the basis for saying that they can't trust our entire system and shutting down the market again is extremely frustrating," adds Goodlatte.
"I urged the delegation to move quickly to reopen their market to U.S. beef and I hope they will take heed," he says. "If not, I think they will face a very dramatic response from the U.S. Congress which is very tired of having to deal with this bureaucratic, protectionist matter that is using alleged public health concerns in Japan as a pretext for what is clearly protectionism for Japanese beef producers."
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