Australia to Resume Japanese Beef Imports
JAPAN - Australia looks set to lift a 16-year ban on imports of Japanese beef by the end of this year, now that the country's government has confirmed the meat is safe for human consumption.
31 January 2017
1 minute read
The Japanese government has set a goal of increasing the value of exports of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products to 1 trillion yen ($8.68 billion) in 2019. That would be a 30 per cent increase from 2015 levels.
Japanese beef - and getting import bans on it lifted - is key to reaching this goal.
Australia in 2001 halted imports of Japanese beef due to a mad cow disease outbreak in Japan.
The Japanese government has been pressing Australia to resume imports ever since.
Australian government officials will inspect Japanese slaughterhouses as early as summer as a prelude to resuming the imports.
There are an estimated 1,600 Japanese restaurants in Australia, where per capita beef consumption is three times higher than in Japan.
Source: Nikkei Asian Review
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