Japan has moved away from its requirement for blanket BSE testing of all slaughtered
cattle.
It’s a step in the right direction but a small one because Japan still wants testing of all
cattle older than 20 months.
The vast majority of cattle slaughtered in Canada and the United States are between 14 and 24 months, so most would be less than 20 months at slaughter.
But packers are pressuring the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is the lead organization in negotiations with the Japanese, to push for a 24 month age limit so that beef from almost all steers and heifers will be eligible for export without testing.
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One problem they cite is age verification.
The usual method of checking an animal’s age, dentition or the examination of the teeth after slaughter, is accurate on older cattle. For example, it works on cattle older than 30 months, the age cut off for
Canadian beef exports to the United States.
But it is not foolproof and Steve Kay, editor of the influential newsletter Cattle Buyers Weekly says Japan has indicated it won’t accept dentition as the single standard.
So what will the Japanese accept as proof of age?
Age can also be determined by skeletal development, or ossification, and the USDA is looking at how this could be used to satisfy the Japanese.
The Japanese would likely prefer that North America adopt its national identification system that sees every animal eartagged and its ID number, breed, sex, date of birth and production history entered into a national database. A similar system exists in Britain and some other European countries.
Indeed, in the case of Wagyu beef sold by one company, a Japanese consumer can take the number imprinted on the package’s label, type it into a website and find out the animal’s birth date, breed, origin, photo of the producer and the results of BSE tests performed on that animal.
But the U.S. is just beginning to test identification systems in some state trials and a national program is years away. Canada’s national identification system does not include age in its data bank.
And the Japanese might also want other safeguards, such as removal of more specified risk materials or perhaps a ban on SRMs in all animal feed.
There are many details to be worked out and the progress is sure to be slow, particularly after Japan found its 12th BSE infected cow early this week, keeping consumers on edge.
The bottom line is that Japan won’t open its border anytime soon and as long as it stays closed, it will be difficult to get the Americans to open theirs to Canadian live cattle.
