»»U.S. Pushes Japan to Loosen its Beef Import Rules
President George W. Bush pressed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday over a beef trade standoff, telling the leader in an official visit that Japanese consumers should be eating U.S. beef.[…]
U.S. officials, along with the beef industry, have been pushing Japan to loosen its import rules on beef, hoping to rebuild a robust trade with the Asian nation. They want to see Japan accept meat from older animals and also seek an end to mandatory inspections of each box of beef.
Currently, Japan accepts U.S. meat from animals 20 months or younger, but exporters would like to see meat shipped from animals up to 30 months old.[…]
U.S. beef exports to Japan were about $1.4 billion a year until 2003, when mad cow disease was discovered in the United States. For 2006, that figured stood at $66 million.
(source)
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