Japan to Lift Part of Import Ban on Argentine Beef

May 15, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese agriculture minister Ken Saito and his visiting Argentinian counterpart, Luis Miguel Etchevehere, agreed on Monday that Japan will lift part of its import ban on beef from Argentina by July.

Japan decided to accept Argentine beef imports from areas where hygienic conditions are confirmed, opening the door to beef from the South American country for the first time in history.

Subject to the lifting of the import ban will be beef produced in Patagonia. No outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed in the southern Argentina region since 2001.

Argentina, the world's sixth-largest beef producer, calls for the ending of beef import bans for other regions as well, including northern areas. The two countries will continue discussing the matter.

Beef from Patagonia accounts for some 2 pct of the country's total beef exports.

The partial lifting of the beef import ban will have only a small impact on Japanese cattle farmers, an agriculture ministry official said.

The two ministers also agreed that Japan will start importing mutton from Patagonia and exporting beef to Argentina. Jiji Press