Meat + Poultry - December 2005 - 4

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countries in Asia whose markets remain
closed," Johanns said. At print time, 67
countries out of 119 had resumed some
degree of beef trade with the United
States since December 2003.
Access to Asian markets is also top
of mind for processing companies, including the world's largest. "We look
forward to doing business in Japan
again and are hopeful it will trigger
the reopening of other key markets in
Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan
and Hong Kong," said a statement issued by Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale,
Ark. "Even if these other markets open
soon with less restrictive export requirements, we may not see significant
export business to Asia until the second
half of fiscal 2006."
Phil Seng, president and C.E.O. of
the U.S. Meat Export Federation, said
the first shipment of U.S. beef heading to Japan would leave Denver Dec.
17, as would several representatives
from U.S. meatpacking companies and
Seng, as they prepared for a commemorative welcome ceremony at the Japanese airport and subsequent press conference and appreciation luncheon featuring U.S. beef later the same week.
The U.S. delegation will kick off a
public relations campaign for several
months to re-establish U.S. beef as a
safe and quality product in the minds
of Japanese consumers.
"We have a lot of work to do to try
to restore our image and our credibility
with the Japanese," said Seng.
While enhancing the image of U.S.
beef in the eyes of the Japanese, Seng
says officials will also be working behind
the scenes to chip away at the age restriction, ultimately convincing Japan to embrace the science-based standard recognized by the O.I.E. "We need to get to
30 months of age or beyond 30 months
of age," said Seng. But for the first year,
U.S.M.E.F. estimates that Japan will only
import between 100,000 metric tons and
120,000 metric tons of U.S. beef.
Seng said getting the volume of exports back to pre-B.S.E. levels will not
be an overnight process and that expecting an immediate resumption of trade is
not realistic. "It's going to be a protracted process. I think it's going to take at
least three years," he noted.
4

MEAT&POULTRY

December 2005

Livestock reporting act expires, G.A.O.
suggests changes
WASHINGTON - The General Accounting Office has recommended administrative actions the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service
should take to increase the transparency and accuracy of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act.
The statute, which expired this past Sept. 30, required packers to report transactions of live cattle, sheep, hogs, and boxed beef and lamb to the federal government.
Even though the L.M.R.A. expired, packers have continued to report those transactions, and U.S.D.A. continues to publish cattle and hog reports.
The G.A.O. report raises questions about the transparency of U.S.D.A.'s actions to
stakeholders. "U.S.D.A. generally agreed with our findings and recommendations,
and discussed the actions it has taken, is taking, or plans to take to address our recommendations," stated the report. U.S.D.A. stated A.M.S. would:
* prepare publicly available reports on the volume of transactions excluded by reporters and their effect on reported prices, and take steps to increase public awareness of reporting methods and processes;
* clarify A.M.S. reporters' instructions while following federal and departmental
statistical and information reporting guidance;
* post quarterly audit information on its Web site and identify additional audit information to add in the future;
* develop auditing methods to allow conclusions to be drawn about overall data accuracy; and
* review its auditing methods to increase the overall effectiveness of the compliance
program.
In response to questions raised about compliance, the report says, "A.M.S. also
stated that care should be exercised when drawing conclusions about packer compliance because packers' errors are relatively few compared to the 500,000 data elements packers may have submitted on some days." A.M.S. also posted a document
on its Web site describing audit procedures and examples of the types of non-compliances that were found.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would reauthorize
L.M.R.A. for five years and change some of the reporting requirements for live
hogs. The resolution has consensus support from American Meat Institute, National Pork Producers Council, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, American Farm
Bureau Federation and American Sheep Industry Association.
A Senate-passed bill would extend M.P.R. through Sept. 30, 2006, without statutory changes "in order to allow producers and other interested parties to review the
G.A.O. report before extending the law for a longer period."

Tyson to start production at Texas plant in February
SHERMAN, Texas - Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale,
Ark., has begun taking applications for many of the
1,600 jobs that will be created by the opening of a new
meat production plant in Sherman, which is scheduled
to start production in February.
Tyson has been converting the former Oscar Mayer plant into a case-ready beef
and pork operation. The company currently has 50 management workers on staff
and has started hiring some of the more than 1,000 production workers who will
be needed for the first phase of production. Additional workers will be added as the
plant increases production.
"We're nearing the final stages of plant renovations and are ready to start hiring
and training the production workers we'll need to successfully begin operations,"
said Mike Gerleman, manager of the Sherman plant. "We're anxious to put our team
together and begin production at what eventually should be the largest case-ready
meat plant in the country."

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