12/13/05 Beef exports to Japan begin again

It's been two long years for Idaho and American beef producers who have been shut out of many foreign markets like Japan, Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. JOHANNS "I think it's very safe to say that within the next week to ten days you'll see US beef back in Japanese restaurants and supermarkets." Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns says US beef from animals under 21 months of age is now eligible for the Japanese market. Idaho Cattle Association's Lloyd Knight says marketing the beef in Japan will be important as they try to win back consumers that have turned to Australian beef which filled the gap for the past two years. KNIGHT "We think that once Japanese consumers once again have the ability to choose American beef we think that they will. We think that they will find it to be high quality, safe product and we expect that we'll be able to earn some of those markets back." A majority of Japanese consumers polled recently said they didn't trust the safety of US beef. Japan along was a 1.4 billion dollar American beef market and companies like Idaho's Agri-Beef had 20 percent of their income tied up in exports to Japan. But Japan isn't the end of the story either. KNIGHT "Korea and some of those other Asian markets that were always big markets, big opportunities for beef and we need to continue to try to get in there with all classifications of beef and cattle." Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott