A great big thanks-a-lot to Brooklyn-based Atlantic Veal & Lamb, for getting our beef market with Japan closed again. Nice work fellas. (A Google search for the company reveals an interesting number of court actions involving them. Take note that they handle a good deal of meat imported from Canada, which it appears that they re-export.)

"This just simply should not have happened," said US Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns. I couldn't agree more.

Heck, Japan only used to import over a billion dollars worth of US beef every year. And trade was JUST resumed in December after being closed for two years due to the discovery of BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, in two cows in this country. Now the above company is alleged to have shipped some veal containing spinal material to Japan. Japan is displeased in a big, big way. That practice was not permitted under new trade agreements, so the minister of agriculture there slammed the door shut to American beef once again. The USDA has removed the company from the list of businesses that are allowed to trade beef with Japan, and is investigating their activities. However, I am sure it will take more reassurance than that to get the market open again. Shame on the meat company for not following regulations and on the USDA inspector who let the violation slip by him. American agriculture really needs friends like that. Not.