Japan And Beef

<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/21/AR2006042100314.html">Japan consumers voice US beef worries at meeting</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>Japanese consumers voiced concerns about a U.S. inspection system for mad cow disease at a meeting in Tokyo on Friday sponsored by the government to discuss a resumption of U.S. beef imports.<br />n<br />nIt was one of 10 meetings on the issue across the nation at which government officials explained steps the United States had promised to take not to repeat a violation of export conditions agreed by the two nations to ensure the safety of U.S. beef.</blockquote><br />n<br />nWe as cattle producers can thank the <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> for this. Not properly inspecting the contents of what is being shipped to Japan led to this. At least there are some forces in Japan wanting to open the market.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>But officials from the Japanese food industry, who were among 310 participants at the Tokyo meeting, urged the government to allow them to resume imports of U.S. beef as soon as possible.<br />n<br />n"The Japanese safety standards are too strict," one official said, referring to the standard endorsed by an international animal health organization that beef from animals aged under 30 months can be traded on the world market.<br />n<br />nHe said it was a waste of taxpayers' money for the government to continue shouldering the cost of testing all domestic cattle for mad cow disease, while admitting it is unnecessary to test cattle younger than 21 months.</blockquote><br />n<br />nUS beef is safe and I hate to see this. Given time this will all work out, I am just tired of waiting.<br />n<br />n<b>I've been waiting all my life to fuck up like this. Judith Rascoe</b>