Market News

Canadian Beef Returns to Japan

Canadian beef was back in some Tokyo supermarkets on December 27, for the first time in two years. Canadian beef has been absent from Japanese shops since BSE was discovered in an Alberta cow in 2003. Hanamasa Co., a Tokyo-based operator of supermarkets and restaurants, imported about eight tonnes of beef from Ontario for its 10 outlets in the Tokyo area. The company plans to launch full-scale sales of Canadian beef in late January or February, with prices comparable to those before the ban. Canada exported between 10,000 and 20,000 tonnes of beef a year to Japan before the ban. Prior to the import halt, Japan was the third-largest importer of Canadian beef, after the United States and Mexico. There have been 21 cases of mad-cow disease reported in Japan since 2001. Source: Canadian Grocer E-Newsletter, Jan.6, 2006.