Japan Bans US Beef
One of the original reasons for the National Animal Identification System was to open up foreign export markets, like Japan, for the big beef producers in the US. Recently Japan reopened its market to US Beef after it had been closed for two years and then promptly shut the doors again.
“The Japanese government views the report, which admits flaws in the U.S. inspection system and outlines measures to prevent a recurrence, as “insufficient� and plans to make more inquiries with Washington, Nakagawa later told a press conference.� - Capital Press
Why? Because the beef they received had been improperly butchered such that there was banned backbone which could contain spinal cord material mixed in the meat. This raised the specter of Mad Cow Disease (BSE) and lead the Japanese to reject the meat. Now they say they do not intend to open the imports up any time soon.
Would NAIS have helped?
No. This was not a problem of farming or ranching. This was not even a slaughter house problem. This was an error at the meat packer plant which the USDA inspectors failed to catch. Ultimately the USDA is the one who canned American exports of beef to Japan through their own clumsy, failed inspection process.
Yet, rather than standing tall and taking the blame for their own mistakes, the USDA wants to blame the lack of exports and profits for the big producers on the rest of us. They created NAIS to “prevent these problems� that have nothing to do with farms, large or small. This blame shifting mentality is just the start of the USDA’s abuse of power that has grown into NAIS.
NAIS is completely unnecessary. If big producers wish to have a voluntary system of trace-back like NAIS, then fine, let them. But NAIS, Premise ID and Animal ID should not be forced on us all. It is completely and utterly unnecessary for small farmers and homesteaders. Even if NAIS were completely implemented with 100% compliance, something the USDA will never get, the big beef exporters would still be faced with screw-ups like the one that lost them Japan.
