Japan eyes Australia, New Zealand to replace U.S. beef<\/p>\n
Reuters, Sydney<\/p>\n
Japanese officials will visit Australia and New Zealand to
\ndiscuss increasing beef imports from the two countries after
\nTokyo banned U.S. beef because of its first case of mad cow
\ndisease.<\/p>\n
Officials from the Japanese ministry of agriculture were due
\nto arrive in Australia on Thursday to meet cattle farmers in
\nnorthern Queensland state before heading to New Zealand on the
\nweekend, a Japanese Embassy spokesman in Sydney said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Japan, the top overseas market for U.S. beef, suspended beef
\nimports from the United States immediately after the Dec. 23
\nannouncement of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease.<\/p>\n
\"They decided to (investigate) Australia and New Zealand's
\nexport potential,\" Koji Otani, a vice-consul at the Japanese
\nEmbassy, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Japan imported about 534,000 tones of beef in the year through
\nMarch 2003. Almost half, 240,000 tones, came from the United
\nStates.<\/p>\n
Australia is Japan's other major supplier. It exported 277,300
\ntones of beef to Japan worth A$1.4 billion (US$1.1 billion) in
\nthe year through June 2003, Meat and Livestock Australia figures
\nshow. New Zealand exported 10,962 tons of beef and veal to Japan
\nin 2002.<\/p>\n
Replacing American imports could almost double Australasian
\nbeef sales to Japan, but there was concern that demand might
\noutstrip supply -- especially if other Asian nations came
\nshopping for beef, as the industry expected.<\/p>\n
\"It's about both the Australian and New Zealand industries
\nbeing able to meet the shortfall of imports from the ban on U.S.
\nproducts,\" said Mark Jeffries, the chief executive of industry
\nbody Meat New Zealand.<\/p>\n
A rare human form of the infection, known as variant
\nCreutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), can result from eating animal
\nproducts contaminated with the brain-wasting cattle disorder.<\/p>\n
Japanese government officials will meet with New Zealand
\nofficials and industry representatives on Monday, Jeffries said.<\/p>\n
However, he said Japan favored grain-fed beef, which has a
\nmilder flavor than the grass-fed beef that New Zealand mainly
\nproduces, although there may be an opportunity for the New
\nZealand product to be introduced to a new set of consumers.<\/p>\n
Japan has told U.S. officials that it is still too early to
\ndiscuss easing the import suspension.<\/p>",
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