III 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 87 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 17, 2005 Mr. Thune (for himself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Bond, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Talent, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Roberts) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the resumption of beef exports to Japan.

Whereas the livestock industry in the United States, including farmers, ranchers, processors, and retailers, is a vital component of rural communities and the entire United States economy; Whereas United States producers take pride in delivering an abundant and safe food supply to our Nation and to the world; Whereas Japan has prohibited imports of beef from the United States since December 2003, when a single case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was found in a Canadian-born animal in Washington State; Whereas the United States agriculture industry as a whole has been negatively affected by the Japanese ban and the loss of a $1,700,000,000 export market to Japan; Whereas the United States has undertaken a rigorous and thorough surveillance program and has exceeded internationally recognized standards of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for BSE testing and has implemented safeguards to protect human and animal health; Whereas Japan is a member of the OIE and has agreed to such standards; Whereas the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organization (WTO) calls for WTO members to apply sanitary and phytosanitary measures only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal, and plant health, based on scientific principles; Whereas the United States and Japan concluded an understanding on October 23, 2004, that established a process that would lead to the resumption of imports of beef from the United States, yet such imports have not resumed; Whereas despite the best efforts of officials within the United States Department of State, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Government of Japan continues to delay imports of beef from the United States on the basis of factors not grounded in sound science and consumer safety; Whereas the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures does not provide to WTO members the right to discriminate and restrict trade arbitrarily; and Whereas Japan has been provided a reasonable timeframe to establish appropriate trade requirements and resume beef trade with the United States, and the Government of Japan is putting a long and profound bilateral trading history at risk: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of the Senate that if the Government of Japan continues to delay meeting its obligations to resume beef imports from the United States under the understanding reached with the United States on October 23, 2004, the United States Trade Representative should immediately impose retaliatory economic measures against Japan.