II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3548 

To authorize appropriate action if negotiations with Japan to allow the 

resumption of United States beef exports are not successful, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21, 2006 

Mr. CONRAD (for himself, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. BURNS, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. 

THUNE, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. ENZI, Mr. DAYTON, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. 

CRAIG, Mr. COLEMAN, and Mr. TALENT) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To authorize appropriate action if negotiations with Japan 

to allow the resumption of United States beef exports 

are not successful, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that— 

5 (1) the United States cattle industry produces 

6 abundant, safe, and healthful food for consumers in 

7 the United States and around the world; 


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1 (2) Japan prohibited imports of beef from the 

2 United States during the period beginning December 

3 2003 and ending December 2005, after a single case 

4 of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or 

5 ‘‘mad cow disease’’) was found in a Canadian-born 

6 animal in Washington State; 

7 (3) the United States has implemented and 

8 maintained a BSE surveillance and safeguard pro9 gram that exceeds the internationally recognized 

10 standards of the World Organization for Animal 

11 Health (OIE) for BSE control, eradication, and test12 ing to protect human and animal health; 

13 (4) the United States and the Government of 

14 Japan concluded an agreement on December 12, 

15 2005, that established the conditions under which 

16 beef exports to Japan could resume; 

17 (5) as a result of errors by a single United 

18 States exporter certified to sell beef to Japan and 

19 inadequate oversight by the Department of Agri20 culture, a single shipment of United States beef was 

21 found to be noncompliant with the terms of the 

22 agreement resulting in a suspension of all United 

23 States beef exports to Japan; 

24 (6) the United States has taken substantive 

25 corrective actions to ensure that United States beef 


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1 exports to Japan are in full compliance with the 

2 terms of the agreement, fully disclosed the actions 

3 taken to the Government of Japan, and allowed Jap4 anese officials the opportunity to review those ac5 tions and personally inspect and determine the eligi6 bility of all United States beef processing plants cer7 tified for the export of beef to Japan; 

8 (7) notwithstanding the membership of Japan 

9 in the OIE and the commitment of Japan under the 

10 Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 

11 Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organi12 zation to apply sanitary and phytosanitary measures 

13 only to the extent necessary to protect human, ani14 mal, and plant health, based on scientific principles, 

15 Japan continues to maintain an unjustified suspen16 sion of imports of United States beef; and 

17 (8) the continued violation by Japan of the 

18 spirit and letter of the World Trade Organization 

19 commitments of Japan has resulted in the cumu20 lative economic loss to the United States beef indus21 try of approximately $6,300,000,000 and current 

22 annual economic trade losses of $3,140,000,000 per 

23 year. 


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1 SEC. 2. NEGOTIATIONS AND CERTIFICATION REGARDING 

2 UNITED STATES BEEF EXPORTS TO JAPAN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, not later than August 31, 2006, the United 

5 States Trade Representative shall submit to Congress a 

6 certification described in subsection (b). 

7 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The certification described in 

8 this subsection means a certification by the United States 

9 Trade Representative to Congress that Japan is no longer 

10 prohibiting the importation of beef from the United 

11 States. 

12 (c) ADDITIONAL TARIFFS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the certification described 

14 in subsection (b) is not made, the Secretary of the 

15 Treasury shall, not later than September 30, 2006, 

16 impose additional tariffs on selected articles that are 

17 grown by, the products of, or manufactured by 

18 Japan and that enter the customs territory of the 

19 United States, in addition to any other duty that 

20 would otherwise apply to the articles. 

21 (2) AMOUNT.—The additional tariffs shall be 

22 applied to the articles in an amount sufficient, in the 

23 aggregate, to result in additional tariffs being im24 posed on imports of articles from Japan in an 

25 amount equal to $3,140,000,000 annually. 


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1 (3) DURATION.—The additional tariffs imposed 

2 by this section shall terminate on the date that a 

3 certification described in subsection (b) is submitted 

4 to Congress. 

5 (d) NEGOTIATIONS.—Beginning on the date of enact6 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consulta7 tion with the United States Trade Representative, shall 

8 expedite negotiations with Japan to ensure that Japan 

9 adopts a process that leads to the elimination of the prohi10 bition by Japan on imports of beef from the United States. 

Æ 


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