Hope remains for reopening of Asian markets.By Peter A. Buxbaum, AJOTThe recall in January by the US Department of Agriculture of 143 million pounds of beef processed by Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Co. of the Chino, CA, could put a damper on what otherwise should be another stellar year for US beef exports. The Agriculture Department reported that the nation’s largest beef recall had set back negotiations to ship US beef to Japan and South Korea, two sour spots, along with China, for US beef exporters. Those two markets were closed to the US cattle industry in 2003 after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, otherwise known as mad cow disease, was reported. The latest recall came after the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video that showed slaughterhouse workers there kicking and shoving sick and crippled cows and forcing them to stand with electric prods, forklifts and water hoses. Otherwise, newly released statistics indicate that exports for US beef are very strong and should remain so. The United States is now exporting in record numbers to Mexico and Canada, now the number one and number two export markets, as well as to twenty other countries. Total US beef, beef variety meat and processed product exports were $2.618 billion in 2007, according to Gregg Doud, chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, who analyzed 2007 year-end trade data recently released by the Agriculture Department. This figure is up from $2.031 billion in 2006, but still down from the $3.86 billion record of 2003. “Mexico is the top market for US beef exports,” Doud said. “We exported $1.185 billion worth of US beef and beef products to Mexico, a new record. Canada is our second largest market. We exported $602 million worth of US beef and beef products to Canada. This also breaks the previous record.” The US exported beef and beef products to 104 countries last year, setting new records for 22 of them. Besides Mexico and Canada, records were set with markets as diverse as Armenia, Chile, Congo, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Gabon, the Philippines, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates. Exported to the UAE grew by 48%, while non-variety meats) exports to the Middle East increased 4 percent to 6,956 metric tons and variety meat exports to the Middle East ñ primarily liver exports to Egypt ñ increased by 9 percent to 88,845 metric tons. Perhaps of greatest note were the new records set in four CAFTA-DR countries. The US exported $28 million in beef and beef variety meats in 2007 to the CAFTA-DR nations—Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua—up from $18 million in 2006. “Three years ago I forecasted that overall US beef and beef variety meat exports to the CAFTA-DR nations could triple by 2015 to $41 million,” said Doud. “In just the first full year of the CAFTA-DR free trade agreement, we’ve already more than doubled our beef exports.” Growth in exports to the Dominican Republic is particularly impressive, Doud noted, where in 2007, US beef exports reached $16 million. Before the CAFTA-DR, the Dominican Republic’s 40% tariff limited trade to between $3million and $7 million in exports per year. New records for US beef exports were also set in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras. US beef exports to the European Union also rose sharply. Exports to the 27 European Union countries in 2007 were $49 million, up from $29 million in 2006 and the largest figure since 1999. “Even more remarkable is that $40.5 million of this was beef only,” said Doud. “Traditionally we have exported primarily beef variety meats to the EU.” Asian markets remained a frustration for beef exporters, however. South Korea and China are still completely closed to US beef and strict limitations prevail on exports to Japan. Exports to Japan in 2007 were $244 million versus $1.391 billion in 2003, although, at 44,718 metric tons, they increased by 265 percent over the year before. Exports to South Korea we