10/02/06 Wash Beef Commission helping in Japan

Washington Ag October 2, 2006 The Washington Beef Commission is helping out with the U.S. Meat Export Federation's "We Care" campaign in Japan aimed at reassuring Japanese consumers about the safety and wholesomeness of U.S. beef. Beef Commission Executive Director Patti Brumbach says they will be helping fund the campaign during October. Brumbach: "What we will be doing is sponsoring a neighborhood barbecue event that will be promoted with media for several weeks leading into it. Then we will be sending Tom and Cindy Beechinor from the Beef Commission to go and kind of put a face on Washington's beef producers in Japan. And the cool thing about this is that we will be working with Seattle's sister city, the Kobe Prefecture in Japan, and so it is kind of a nice tie to bring everything full circle from December of 2003 for us and really help to win back that market and get consumers back to where they were before the borders closed." Japan of course had banned U.S. beef following the discovery in Washington in 2003 of BSE in a cow of Canadian origin. Since then the Japanese market has reopened twice, most recently in July, but only for beef from cattle 20 months of age and younger. I'm Bob Hoff.