Japanese beef exports to US postponed

[NNN0LHI]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120817_35.html

Aug. 17, 2012 - Updated 09:45 UTC

Japan has been forced to put off resuming beef exports to the United States at the last minute, due to US concerns about effects of last year's nuclear accident.

Shipments were due to resume on Saturday starting with cattle processed that day.

Japanese beef exports to the United States had been suspended for over two years after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki.

But Japanese officials say the US side requested a halt on Thursday, saying it wanted to check how Japan is inspecting beef and managing feed to prevent radioactive contamination.

[newfie11]

1. With the drought in US many cattle are going to market now

Radiation or not, the last thing ranchers need right now is the cattle prices to drop more. So for two reasons I am glad the cattle from Japan are not coming.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. Japanese export beef like Miyazaki beef is high-end meat

It doesn't compete with the typical beef sold in US grocery stores. The stuff that is exported to the US is generally destined for Japanese restaurants or Oriental markets.

[PearliePoo2]

2. Here's a key sentence:

"Japan's agriculture ministry says beef both for domestic and overseas consumption does not contain radioactive substances above the state limit."

I don't want ANY RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES in my food. None.
If Japan is the country of origin I won't buy it now.

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Miyazaki is about as far from the nuclear disaster as you can get in Japan

There is no radiation problem with Miyazaki beef.

[Odin2005]

6. Don't you dare bring facts into this hysteria!

[Art_from_Ark]

8. I know a beef farmer in Miyazaki

I asked her about her beef and she said they were not having any problems with radiation over there. There was a concern about hoof-and-mouth in her prefecture, though, but it had only affected a couple of beef farms. And Miyazaki beef is available in the local grocery stores in my area north of Tokyo, if one is willing to pay upwards of $16.00/pound for it.

Ironically, there is also some US beef sold in the same stores. There had been some controversy when Japan halted beef imports from the US a few years ago because some tainted beef had been sent in some shipments. So I'm wondering if this current situation is just tit-for-tat.

[Odin2005]

5. Everything is at least slightly radioactive.

The air you breathe and anything you eat has a tiny amount of Carbon-14. Igneous rocks emit radon gas.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. When BSE was reported on some ranches here in the U.S.

the Japanese read the U.S. the riot act on our exports to them and essentially banned much of it until we could prove what cattle were where in relation to the infected few and then they required beef only from cattle of a certain age or less...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/business/global/08beef.html

Seems the karma train is leaving the station?

[davidpdx]

9. Same with Korea

There was a ban on US beef for quite some time. Most stores won't carry it just because of consumer backlash. My question to people is if Japan and Korea can do it for what they feel are legitimate concerns, why can't the US?