US & Japan Reach Trade Interim Trade Accord: By Pete Heisy, Via meatingplace.comAfter a round of extended negotiations, Japanese and U.S. trade officials struck an interim deal in Tokyo Saturday, effectively reopening the trade of cattle and beef products between the two nations.

The agreement, which ends a 10-month trade ban sparked last December by the discovery of a cow afflicted with bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Washington state, essentially conforms to Japan's terms that no cattle over the age of 20 months be allowed into its food chain. Both sides said the pact will be reviewed in July 2005 with an eye toward normalizing trade.

Saturday's announcement came on the heels of news Friday that despite a reportedly heated start, the latest round of negotiations between the U.S. trade team and its Japanese counterparts had been extended.

The special marketing agreement states that all beef items must come from cattle under the age of 20 months, allows four methods of verifying the age of the animal specified, and requires that all specified risk material (SRMs) be removed.

The Japanese dropped their demand that all cattle of any age be tested for BSE, and said they will continue to work with the United States on its desire that age be determined by physiological examination of carcasses rather than a universal animal identification program.

The timing of trade resumption was not specified. The agreement simply says this will occur "as soon as modification to existing U.S. and Japanese regulations can be made." A close reading of the USDA statement, however, indicates that the two sides expect trade to resume early in 2005, since the timing of a review is stated as July of 2005 in one spot, and six months after the resumption of trade in another.

The agreement also holds that the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health will participate in the joint U.S. and Japanese consultation on BSE, testing methods, transmissibility and other matters.

Meanwhile, the USDA will within 45 days conduct a study and issue a report about the ability to determine physiological age by examination of carcasses. The U.S. contends that examination of teeth and bones and other body parts of an animal after slaughter can reliably indicate its age.

Under terms of the agreement, four methods are acceptable to verify that cattle are under 20 months of age, according to the USDA. These are:

• Individual animal age verification;
• Group age verification;
• Insemination age verification; and
• USDA process verified animal identification and date collection services

In response to the announcement, J. Patrick Boyle, chief executive of the American Meat Institute, said in a statement, "We are encouraged by the interim breakthrough on U.S. Japan beef trade. We welcome the full review of our cattle and beef industry production practices by the Office of International Epizootics" and look forward to resumption of full trade in July of 2005."