[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3548 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








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.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the United States cattle industry produces abundant, 
        safe, and healthful food for consumers in the United States and 
        around the world;
            (2) Japan prohibited imports of beef from the United States 
        during the period beginning December 2003 and ending December 
        2005, after 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 agreement on December 12, 2005, that established the 
        conditions under which beef exports to Japan could resume;
            (5) as a result of errors by a single United States 
        exporter certified to sell beef to Japan and inadequate 
        oversight by the Department of Agriculture, a single shipment 
        of United States beef was found to be noncompliant with the 
        terms of the agreement resulting in a suspension of all United 
        States beef exports to Japan;
            (6) the United States has taken substantive corrective 
        actions to ensure that United States beef exports to Japan are 
        in full compliance with the terms of the agreement, fully 
        disclosed the actions taken to the Government of Japan, and 
        allowed Japanese officials the opportunity to review those 
        actions and personally inspect and determine the eligibility of 
        all United States beef processing plants certified for the 
        export of beef to Japan;
            (7) notwithstanding the membership of Japan in the OIE and 
        the commitment of Japan 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 suspension of imports of United States 
        beef; and
            (8) the continued violation by Japan of the spirit and 
        letter of the World Trade Organization commitments of Japan 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.

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

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not 
later than August 31, 2006, the United States Trade Representative 
shall submit to 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 
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 September 30, 2006, impose additional 
        tariffs on selected articles that are grown by, the products 
        of, or manufactured by Japan and that enter the customs 
        territory of the United States, in addition to any other duty 
        that would otherwise apply to the articles.
            (2) Amount.--The additional tariffs shall be applied to the 
        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.
            (3) Duration.--The additional tariffs imposed by this 
        section shall terminate on the date that a certification 
        described in subsection (b) is submitted to 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 expedite negotiations with Japan to ensure 
that Japan adopts a process that leads to the elimination of the 
prohibition by Japan on imports of beef from the United States.
                                 <all>