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USDA proposes to ease mad cow ban on Japan beef By Randy Fabi
Tue Aug 16, 6:29 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department on Tuesday proposed allowing imports of Japan's Kobe beef, easing a nearly four-year ban imposed because of mad cow disease concerns.
An activist farm group criticized the proposed rule, saying the USDA was sacrificing U.S. food safety to appease the Japanese government.
"We are having to compromise our health and safety standards in order to restore that market," said Bill Bullard, chief executive of ranchers group R-CALF USA.
The United States banned Japanese beef imports after the Asian country discovered its first case of mad cow disease in September 2001. Japan has found more than a dozen new cases since then.
Japan took similar action after the United States found its first case of the brain-wasting disease in a Washington state dairy cow in December 2003.
As part of a trade pact reached last October, the USDA agreed to conduct a risk assessment on Japan's Kobe beef with a view to resume imports so both countries can reopen their borders in tandem.
Jim Rogers, spokesman for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the proposed rule was not connected to U.S. efforts in reopening Japan's borders to U.S. beef.
"If any country asked us for the same thing, we would do something similar," Rogers said.
MAD COW RISK?
R-CALF said Japanese beef was not safe for U.S. consumers because it only recently implemented a ban prohibiting the use of cattle remains to feed other cattle. The restriction is viewed as the main safeguard in preventing the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy ( BSE).
Under the proposed rule, the USDA said it would allow Japanese boneless cuts of beef from government certified plants that do not use certain stunning techniques to kill cattle.
The rule will be published in Thursday's Federal Register. Industry groups, consumer advocates and other interested parties have until September 19 to submit comments, the USDA said.
Kobe beef, a delicacy that commands more than $100 per pound in Japan, comes from Wagyu cattle massaged with sake and fed a diet enriched with beer to stimulate their appetite.
The United States imported about $800,000 worth of Kobe beef annually before the ban, the USDA said.
Tue Aug 16, 6:29 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department on Tuesday proposed allowing imports of Japan's Kobe beef, easing a nearly four-year ban imposed because of mad cow disease concerns.
An activist farm group criticized the proposed rule, saying the USDA was sacrificing U.S. food safety to appease the Japanese government.
"We are having to compromise our health and safety standards in order to restore that market," said Bill Bullard, chief executive of ranchers group R-CALF USA.
The United States banned Japanese beef imports after the Asian country discovered its first case of mad cow disease in September 2001. Japan has found more than a dozen new cases since then.
Japan took similar action after the United States found its first case of the brain-wasting disease in a Washington state dairy cow in December 2003.
As part of a trade pact reached last October, the USDA agreed to conduct a risk assessment on Japan's Kobe beef with a view to resume imports so both countries can reopen their borders in tandem.
Jim Rogers, spokesman for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the proposed rule was not connected to U.S. efforts in reopening Japan's borders to U.S. beef.
"If any country asked us for the same thing, we would do something similar," Rogers said.
MAD COW RISK?
R-CALF said Japanese beef was not safe for U.S. consumers because it only recently implemented a ban prohibiting the use of cattle remains to feed other cattle. The restriction is viewed as the main safeguard in preventing the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy ( BSE).
Under the proposed rule, the USDA said it would allow Japanese boneless cuts of beef from government certified plants that do not use certain stunning techniques to kill cattle.
The rule will be published in Thursday's Federal Register. Industry groups, consumer advocates and other interested parties have until September 19 to submit comments, the USDA said.
Kobe beef, a delicacy that commands more than $100 per pound in Japan, comes from Wagyu cattle massaged with sake and fed a diet enriched with beer to stimulate their appetite.
The United States imported about $800,000 worth of Kobe beef annually before the ban, the USDA said.
