USMEF South American Expo (Click to download PDF form) | | Japan | Seventh ...
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) announced a seventh case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a Holstein cow in northern Japan.
According to the ministry, the latest BSE case was detected due to Japan’s 100% testing policy, introduced in October 2001, at a slaughterhouse in the city of Kitami, Hokkaido. The animal was immediately removed from the food chain.
The latest BSE case was born on March 28, 1996, which means that all seven were born between December 1995 and April 1996. The previous cases were all fed with the same milk supplement, and the agriculture ministry is investigating if the seventh case was also.
The sixth BSE case did not excite the same kind of media and consumer attention as the earlier cases, and the Japanese government can now claim that its detection system is working, which may allay public fears. Wakayama Prefecture, where the sixth case was discovered, is an area of relatively high beef consumption and no immediate decrease in beef sales was apparent.
Middle East
Persian Gulf Customs Union Releases Tariff Exemption List
Although the Persian Gulf Customs Union has been in operation since January 1, a list of exempted commodities was only published this week. Fresh and chilled beef is exempt from all duty, but frozen beef is subject to a 5 percent duty, reports USMEF Middle East Consultant Simon Bakht. Issued by the Dubai Customs–Tariff Department, the list states that all products not listed are subject to a 5 percent duty. Bakht is seeking to clarify whether frozen products sold to processors are also exempt, since the customs document states that “industrial inputs required directly for manufacturing process, imported by the industrial firms and approved by the concerned authority, shall be exempted from customs duty as agreed by the GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee.”
Mexico Antidumping Documents Available
On Jan 7, the Mexican government announced that an antidumping investigation was being initiated against imports of U.S. pork from April 1-September 30, 2002. A translation of the Mexico Ministry of Economy antidumping questionnaire is now available. It includes: general information and instructions, overviews in chart 1 and chart 2, definitions in “Annex” 2, 3 and 4, and forms “Annex 1” and “A.1-2” . Exporters and traders selling product to Mexico should review these documents and should consider whether to have their attorneys also review them. USMEF understands that the named companies selling product during the investigation period as well as any company that wants to try avoid being put into an “all others” category should fill out the forms and submit the requested data. Deadline for filing is Feb. 18. The official announcement is available online at http://www.segob.gob.mx/dof/dof_07-01-2003.pdf and begins on page 26 of this document. A preliminary translation – in which there may be still be interpretation errors – is available at http//www.usmef.org/Misc_News/03_0107_MexAntiDump_sp.pdf and a preliminary evaluation of the situation by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service office in Mexico City is available at http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200301/145785049.pdf.