WASHINGTON (AP)--Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts and nine of his colleagues, including Sen. Wayne Allard, R-CO, have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider allowing Japanese beef imports as long as Japan continues its ban on American beef.

In a letter Sept. 9, the lawmakers complained that Japan's food regulators have unreasonably delayed the resumption of beef trade with the United States despite scientific evidence that U.S. beef is safe.

"It is simply unfair for Japan to demand the ability to sell beef to the United States while simultaneously setting unscientific demands on U.S. beef," the letter said.

It is not the first time U.S. lawmakers have threatened economic retaliation against Japan, but the chorus of complaints has grown louder as the ban lingers on.

USDA spokesman Ed Loyd said the agency recognizes the frustration. He said Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns has put "an extreme amount of effort" into getting Japan to move.

"We have a very friendly relationship with Japan and we've wanted to resolve this through the negotiation process rather than retaliation," Loyd said Sept. 12.

Japan was the United States' largest overseas market for beef before Tokyo banned all U.S. beef imports after the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy surfaced in 2003. Japan had imported about $1.5 billion of U.S. beef annually and the ban has cost over $2 billion in sales.

The United States also has banned imports of Japanese beef since 2001, after the first case of BSE was discovered in Japan. Last fall, the two nations reached a good faith agreement for both nations to resume trade once sufficient testing procedures were put in place.

But Japanese safety officials have taken their time acting on the agreement, in part due to domestic pressures from regulators who are not satisfied with U.S. safety procedures.

In August, the USDA issued a proposed rule to ease the ban on Japanese beef. Public comments are due by Sept. 19.

The lawmakers said in their letter that the rule should not be finalized until the Japanese take similar steps to allow U.S. beef back into their country.

Earlier this year, Rep. Jerry Moran, R-KS, introduced a resolution calling on the U.S. Trade Representative to seek economic sanctions against Japan if it failed to resume the beef trade once testing procedures were set. Moran has said House leadership could bring the measure to the floor if Japan doesn't act soon.

Loyd said the USDA has told Japan it's time to establish a firm deadline for lifting the beef ban.

"Japan has taken a number of positive steps, but they've been small tentative steps and they've been painfully slow," Loyd said.

Besides Roberts, the letter was signed by Sens. Allard, R-CO; Larry Craig, R-ID; Mike Crapo, R-ID; Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX; John Cornyn, R-TX; Chuck Hagel, R-NE; Conrad Burns, R-MT; Craig Thomas, R-WY; and John Thune, R-SD.

Date: 9/22/05

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