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USTR demands Japan lift beef import restrictions linked to cow age+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) NEW YORK, March 2_(Kyodo) _ The office of the United States Trade Representative reiterated its demand that Japan end its ban on the import of American cattle older than 20 months in its annual report released Thursday. The elimination of such import restrictions by Tokyo, which Washington claims would be in accordance with the rules of the World Organization for Animal Health, will continue to be a priority issue for the United States, according to the USTR report. Japan banned American beef imports after the first U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was discovered in December 2003. The Japanese government decided in July last year to resume imports of U.S. beef on condition that the meat comes from cattle aged 20 months old or younger. The latest report expressed concern about the steep fall in U.S. beef sales, which the USTR apparently attributes to Japan's import restrictions. Before it banned U.S. beef purchases, Japan used to import $1.3 billion worth of beef annually from the United States but the figure between July and December last year was just $50 million, according to the report. Copyright 2007 Kyodo News International, Inc. |