Friday, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue announced an agreement has been reached to allow U.S. beef full access into the Japanese market immediately. Joe (shee-lee) Schuele with the U.S. Meat Export Federation says they’ve been working to get the 30-month rule lifted for some time and it will increase exports to Japan from 7 to 10-percent or $150 to $200 million annually.
He says the key to reaching an agreement was getting Japan to follow OIE rules instead of using the age restriction as a trade barrier.
Schuele says this full market opening will also be a good addition to a bilateral trade agreement with Japan.
Schuele says restrictions on beef exports have been in place since BSE was detected in the U.S. in 2003.
