JETRO Draws up Guidelines for ‘Wagyu’ Labeling in U.S.

Jiji Press

16:32 JST, November 23, 2024

NEW YORK (Jiji Press) — The Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO, along with the Japanese government and others, has drawn up guidelines on how to apply for wagyu beef made in Japan to be labeled as “wagyu” in the United States, Jiji Press has learned.

U.S. food labeling rules require applications to label beef and other brands. Unaware of the rules, Japanese operators exported wagyu-labeled products, only to be ordered by U.S. authorities to remove the label in 2022. Since then, exports of beef labeled as such from Japan have been suspended.

The JETRO move comes as wagyu beef is not necessarily recognized as being of Japanese origin in the United States, where such beef produced domestically and in Australia is spreading.

According to the organization, 55 pct of wagyu-labeled beef sold in the United States in 2020 was produced domestically, and 40 pct was imported from Australia. Such beef from Japan accounted for only 5%.

Meanwhile, high-end wagyu products from Japan are sold at prices about 2.5 times those of U.S. and Australian wagyu, according to Japan’s Agriculture and Livestock Industries Corp.

While restaurant operators in the United States are allowed to offer unlabeled Japanese beef as wagyu from the Asian country, a JETRO official stressed, “Labeling leads to credibility.”