Return of the beefsteak!

After a two-year long lull, things finally seem to be looking up for American beef exporters, with Japan lifting the ban on U.S. and Canadian beef imports, imposed due to the mad cow disease fright.

It may be recalled that more than 60 countries including Japan had banned U.S. beef after a mad-cow disease case was confirmed in Washington State in December 2003. Soon after which, U.S. beef exports had hit the rock bottom with volumes to the tune of 434 million pounds in 2004 from the highs of 2.5 billion pounds in 2003.

The mad cow disease, scientifically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE spreads to cows that feed on the remains of other cattle infected with the deadly disease. Beef infected with mad cow disease is also thought to cause a fatal brain disorder in humans.

U.S.A and Canada today, accepted conditions for resuming the beef trade, including limiting meat from animals at low risk of contracting mad-cow disease. Japan is expected to dispatch inspectors to certify U.S. and Canadian slaughterhouses as soon as tomorrow.

Some of the conditions imposed by the Japanese include: that the imported beef must come from cattle not older than 21 months and that spinal cords, brains and other parts of cattle blamed for spreading the human variant of mad-cow disease be removed from the meat.

The Bush administration, in response to Japan's decision, has also lifted its ban on prized Japanese beef. The U.S. appetite for Japanese beef, primarily expensive Kobe beef, is more of a niche market.

Though this technically has opened new vistas of opportunities for meatpackers especially for big players Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. to reclaim a share of a $1.7 billion market before the end of the year, American ranchers, seem overwhelmed by the task of breaking back into the Japanese market. A survey conducted recently by the Kyodo news agency showed nearly 75 percent of Japanese unwilling to eat U.S. beef because of mad cow disease fears, compared to just 21 percent saying they would consume it.

Since Japan has traditionally always been a very large market for American and Canadian beef, the announcement was welcomed by the enthusiastic markets.

The shares of Yoshinoya D&C Co., a restaurant chain operator specializing in a beef and rice dish, touched a five-year high. Shares of Tokyo-based Yoshinoya rose 1.3 percent, to 238,000 yen at the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 3:00 p.m. close, having traded as high as 240,000 yen, the highest since Nov. 11, 2000.