The governments of Japan and Argentina reached an agreement on Wednesday, September 30, on the sanitary conditions for imports of beef and beef products from northern Argentina, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported.
The region is recognized as free of foot-and-mouth disease with vaccination. Japan will therefore only allow imports of deboned beef that has undergone an aging process to inactivate the virus, as well as products made from such beef. These conditions are similar to those currently applied to imports from Uruguay.
The agreement covers Argentina’s main cattle and beef-producing provinces, including Buenos Aires —excluding the Patagones district— Santa Fe, Córdoba, Entre Ríos, Corrientes, La Pampa and the country’s northern provinces.
The decision was based on a risk assessment presented in February, which concluded that the risk of foot-and-mouth disease entering Japan through properly aged and deboned beef from the region was extremely low.
However, the agreement does not mean that exports will begin immediately. As a next step, Japanese authorities must conduct on-site inspections and formally approve beef processing plants that comply with the agreed sanitary conditions. Shipments may only begin from plants that receive authorization.
In Uruguay’s case, more than three years elapsed between the initial political and technical agreement to open the market—reached during President Tabaré Vázquez’s visit to Japan in November 2015—and the first air shipments in February 2019.
Japan already allows imports of beef from southern Argentina without aging or deboning requirements, as the region is recognized as free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination.
The tariff on fresh beef imports into Japan is 38.5%. Japan is the world’s third-largest beef importer. According to projections from the USDA office in Tokyo, it will import 705,000 tons carcass weight equivalent in 2027, behind only China and the United States.
