Japan has promised to review its import regulations for beef, which could lead to expanded access for Canada.
Japan’s Food Safety Commission is planning public hearings and a risk assessment on each country requesting greater market opportunities.
Canada and the United States are allowed to ship beef from cattle younger than 21 months, and the federal government said in a Dec. 9 news release that it hopes it could be extended at least to cattle younger than 30 months.
However, this is a slow process and is not expected to happen soon, said Canada Beef Inc. president Rob Meijer. Japanese buyers are aware of Canadian beef but have no commitment to it.
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“In a market like Japan, we really don’t have the reputation and brand that we need. If and when expanded access were to occur, we’ve got a lot of work to do in the meantime,” Meijer said. “This is something that is very preliminary. I am not putting a lot of resources into it at this time .… If and when that market does expand, if we do not have some of that pre-work done, it is not going to be a huge benefit to us because consumers and end users in the market won’t gravitate toward Canadian meat just because there is market access.”
Canadian exports to Japan of beef from cattle younger than 21 months totalled $81.4 million in 2010. The federal government predicts a significant increase in exports as access expands.
Trade borders were closed after BSE was discovered in Canada in 2003.
