Japan’s election results muddy beef export picture

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was the big winner in Japan’s recent elections.  And according to DTN Tokyo correspondent Richard Smith, that may be cause for worry for food exporters to Japan-especially exporters of beef.

In the months preceding the end of the Japanese ban on U.S. beef nearly three years ago, the DPJ opposed the resumption of U.S. beef imports.  In the months following import resumption, the DPJ criticized the government for making a hasty decision. And Smith says the DPJ’s election platform stated that, once in power, the party would “respond to violations on import of beef products with an immediate total ban on importation”.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Japan says it’s too soon to know just how the new government will regard U.S. beef imports.  But a representative of New Zealand’s meat industry in Japan says the DPJ’s agricultural policies do not look very encouraging for foreign meat suppliers.  He says the DPJ is likely to be more protective of Japan’s agricultural sector than was the previous government.