10/11/05 Am Farm Bureau impatient with Japan

American Rancher October 11, 2005 The American Farm Bureau Federation is the latest group to express its impatience over the Japanese government's failure to resume beef trade with the United States. The organization has condemned the lack of action by Japan in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. Stallman: "Our members are increasingly frustrated. They're angry. Their patience is wearing thin that the Japanese government has been dragging its feed to open their market to U.S. beef." That's American Farm Bureau president Bob Stallman who points out that Japan agreed to reopen its borders to U.S. beef over a year ago. Japan banned U.S. beef almost two years ago now because of a case of BSE. Stallman: "Our Congress is becoming is becoming increasingly impatient and if matters are not resolved in a brief period of time we believe that the pressures will really mount to probably do some things that we don't normally like to do in this country." Some members of Congress are asking the administration to file a case in the World Trade Organization. Stallman: "At this point American Farm Bureau has not been in favor of taking this case to the WTO, not because we think we're wrong, but because the process itself takes so long that we are hoping the issue can be resolved in a shorter timeframe." A panel of Japan's Food Safety Commission has drafted a report which says U.S. beef from cattle under 21 months of age would be low risk. The panel could endorse that draft by the end of October. It would then be submitted to the main commission and then to the health and agriculture ministries after a month-long public hearing. I'm Bob Hoff.