12/12/05 Challenges to U.S. beef in Japan

American Rancher December 12, 2005 Even though the Japanese government may say U.S. beef from animals 20 months of age and younger is okay for import, it is going to take work for the U.S. beef industry to recapture the market it had in Japan before American beef was shut out almost two years ago because of BSE. Tom Lipetsky is with the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Lipetsky: "It is going to be an expensive process. We have a lot of competition to contend with. The Australians. The New Zealand product that is in the market. They are not going to give up their market share easily. We are going to have to work at this kind of one restaurant chain at a time. One retailer at a time. Get our product back in. Help them promote our product and re-establish our presence." Lipetsky explains what the Meat Export Federation's consumer surveys in Japan show. Lipetsky: "We did see a period over about the last three or four quarters where consumer confidence in U.S. beef had declined. But the last quarter we saw a big up tic where we saw consumers telling us they are more willing to purchase U.S. beef if it is available in the market. But it is still fairly low. About 30% of the consumers they want to buy our product." The Meat Export Federation hasn't been idle in Japan the past two years. It has been working with the import trade and consumers. Lipetsky: "Really trying to maintain their interest. Talk to them about the safety of U.S. beef so that when beef does come back to the market they are going to be receptive to buy our product." I'm Bob Hoff.