JAPAN

Beef Imports Slow: The lower price of foreign beef means imports will keep on gobbling up market share from domestic meat, industry sources said. Japanese consumption has leveled off because of food tastes, the sources said. But imported beef, primarily from the United States and Australia, is expected to show steady growth because of the price factor. Growth in Japan’s beef imports has slowed to about 3% in fiscal 1995, when 584,000 metric tons of foreign beef was imported, after spectacular jumps in the preceding two fiscal years.