Australian Ambassador to Japan John McCarthy is spearheading a campaign to get Australian beef back on Japanese dinner plates by taking part in a series of forums across the nation this week.
The Aussie Beef Forums, organized by Meat and Livestock Australia, opened in Sapporo on Monday with the message that the country's meat is both perfectly safe and absolutely delicious. The ambassador will travel on to Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka during the rest of the week to promote a key Australian export.
"We're actually trying to get through two messages," McCarthy said in an interview with The Japan Times. "First, that the conditions surrounding the production of Australian beef ensure that it is extremely safe. There has never been BSE in Australia and there are very stringent rules and regulations that would preclude BSE."