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Vilsack says relationship key to Japan trade trip

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is going on a trade mission to Japan next week (April 5th through 9th) and tells reporters there are many issues to discuss, not the least of which is Japan’s partial ban on U.S. beef related to the one domestic case of a BSE-infected cow years ago. Vilsack says the bilateral agricultural trade relationship with Japan is worth nearly 12-Billion dollars. But Vilsack says he will not make any demands of Japan, “This is a relationship that has been bound in friendship for an extended period of time and it is really about friends basically talking to each other about each others’ needs.”

Former Ag Secretary and current U.S. Senator Mike Johanns has been critical of the administration for not doing more to urge Japan to lift its ban. When asked if steps Johanns has taken to push for more action have helped or hindered, Vilsack said as long as the message is the same, it can help, “Obviously, Senator Johanns has an appreciation from a number of perspectives, both in terms of his prior service here as Secretary of Agriculture and also coming from a beef producing state like Nebraska it makes sense for him to want to promote beef trade.”

Vilsack says he hopes during this mission they can create a framework to fully reopen markets to U.S. beef, giving Japanese consumers what they want, more choice, “We’re gonna continue to work hard. I’ve got no illusions about how easy this is going to be, it’s obviously going to be difficult. But, I think if we listen and effectively communicate that we can see, see forward progress.

Vilsack has made three previous trips to Japan when he was governor of Iowa. His fourth trip marks a significant anniversary following a typhoon in Japan 50 years ago, “An Iowa farmer took it upon himself to begin a ‘hog lift’ to reestablish the hog industry in Japan and that ‘hog lift’ developed a relationship of a sister-state relationship between Yamanashi and Iowa.”

Vilsack says he’s part of a new administration that will be meeting with Japan’s new administration in the midst of elections in both countries, potentially adding to the complexity of the issue. Vilsack says the message to the Japanese is that U.S. beef is safe to eat.

AUDIO: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, conference call with reporters (25 min. MP3)