NDA STATEMENT
January 20, 2006 www.agr.ne.gov		Contact: Christin Kamm (402) 471-6856

LINCOLN - Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach this morning offered the following response to reports Japan has apparently received beef in violation of the U.S.- Japanese beef trade agreement.

"Nebraska Department of Agriculture officials have been in contact with leadership at the United States Department of Agriculture. NDA expressed its concern about the situation and urged USDA to take all appropriate actions necessary to preserve the Japanese market.

"It's our understanding that USDA has outlined a response plan, which includes sanctions against the meat packing company that shipped the unapproved product. We support this action. Nebraska's farmers, ranchers and beef processors should not be penalized for the apparent violations of a single plant in another state.

"We hope USDA's investigation and proposed subsequent actions will allow the Japanese government to continue to receive U.S. beef from compliant U.S. companies."