[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4179 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4179

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 28, 2005

 Mr. Salazar (for himself, Mr. Rehberg, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. 
Costa, Mr. Case, Ms. Herseth, Mr. Ross, Mr. Melancon, Mr. Cardoza, and 
Mr. Lipinski) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

     Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The United States cattle industry produces abundant, 
        safe, and healthful food for consumers in the United States and 
        around the world.
            (2) Japan has prohibited imports of beef from the United 
        States since December, 2003, when a single case of Bovine 
        Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or ``mad cow disease'') was 
        found in a Canadian-born animal in Washington State.
            (3) The United States has implemented and maintained a BSE 
        surveillance and safeguard program that exceeds the 
        internationally recognized standards of the World Organization 
        for Animal Health (OIE) for BSE control, eradication, and 
        testing to protect human and animal health.
            (4) The United States and the Government of Japan concluded 
        an understanding on October 23, 2004, that established a 
        process that was supposed to lead to a resumption of United 
        States beef exports to Japan.
            (5) Notwithstanding Japan's commitment in this agreement, 
        Japan's membership in the OIE, and Japan's commitment under the 
        Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
        Measures of the World Trade Organization to apply sanitary and 
        phytosanitary measures only to the extent necessary to protect 
        human, animal, and plant health, based on scientific 
        principles, Japan continues to maintain an unjustified ban on 
        imports of United States beef.
            (6) Japan's continued violation of the spirit and letter of 
        its World Trade Organization commitments has resulted in the 
        cumulative economic loss to the United States beef industry of 
        approximately $6,300,000,000 and current annual economic trade 
        losses of $3,140,000,000 per year.
            (7) United States officials and officials of the Government 
        of Japan have recently indicated that Japan could complete the 
        regulatory process to allow a resumption of United States beef 
        exports to Japan by the end of 2005.

SEC. 2. NEGOTIATIONS AND CERTIFICATION REGARDING UNITED STATES BEEF 
              EXPORTS TO JAPAN.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
United States Trade Representative shall, not later than December 15, 
2005, submit to the Congress a certification described in subsection 
(b).
    (b) Certification.--The certification described in this subsection 
means a certification by the United States Trade Representative to the 
Congress that Japan is no longer prohibiting the importation of beef 
from the United States.
    (c) Additional Tariffs.--
            (1) In general.--If the certification described in 
        subsection (b) is not made, the Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall, not later than December 31, 2005, impose additional 
        tariffs on selected articles that are the growth, product, or 
        manufacture of Japan and that enter the customs territory of 
        the United States, in addition to any other duty that would 
        otherwise apply to such article. Such additional tariffs shall 
        be applied to such articles in an amount sufficient, in the 
        aggregate, to result in additional tariffs being imposed on 
        imports of articles from Japan in an amount equal to 
        $3,140,000,000 annually.
            (2) Duration.--The additional tariffs imposed by this 
        section shall terminate on the date that a certification 
        described in subsection (b) is submitted to the Congress.
    (d) Negotiations.--Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the United States 
Trade Representative, shall begin negotiations with Japan to ensure 
that Japan adopts a process that leads to the elimination of its 
prohibition on imports of beef from the United States.
                                 <all>