Re:Again please... (Score 2, Informative)

On a sidenote, the article also notes an issue involving South Korea/Japan and US beef imports. If I remember the South Korea situation correctly, the agreement (or rather, the lifting of the ban on US beef imports) involved the possibility of 30+ month old cattle. The agreement was then revised after much protesting to exclude cattle older than 30 months. 30+ months and less than 24 months in the US are..not exactly the same. I can see why people would be worried then.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/29/skorea.beef/index.html

Until the 2003 ban, South Korea was the third-largest market for U.S. beef exporters. The U.S. beef industry has lost up to $4 billion since the market closed, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

While there is the possibility that the USDA is doing a good thing by doing this, you have to consider the impact this may have on foreign markets concerned about the beef they are importing.