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BEEF NEWS
Food Safety Commissioners attack Japanese government over beef ban
by Pete Hisey on 6/23/2005 for Meatingplace.com
Just when it seemed that Japan was moving rapidly toward reopening its market to American beef products, controversy broke out during a scheduled meeting of the independent Food Safety Commission, when members attacked the government for allegedly caving to U.S. pressure. Without the approval of the FSC, Japan cannot end its ban on U.S. beef.
At the same time, the head of the Japanese delegation that visited the U.S. over the past week, Kenji Yamaoka, told the Australian Broadcast System that U.S. Agriculture Under Secretary J.B. Penn threatened the delegation, saying that the United States was reaching "the limits of its patience."
One member of the Food Safety Commission, Kiyotoshi Kaneko, charged that the government misled the commission when it said that the decision to end universal testing of all cattle slaughtered in Japan had nothing to do with attempts to reopen the market to U.S. beef, according to a Reuters report.
Consumer groups, meanwhile, have stepped up their resistance to resuming imports, noting that 65 percent of Japanese consumers oppose changing the policy.
Food Safety Commissioners attack Japanese government over beef ban
by Pete Hisey on 6/23/2005 for Meatingplace.com
Just when it seemed that Japan was moving rapidly toward reopening its market to American beef products, controversy broke out during a scheduled meeting of the independent Food Safety Commission, when members attacked the government for allegedly caving to U.S. pressure. Without the approval of the FSC, Japan cannot end its ban on U.S. beef.
At the same time, the head of the Japanese delegation that visited the U.S. over the past week, Kenji Yamaoka, told the Australian Broadcast System that U.S. Agriculture Under Secretary J.B. Penn threatened the delegation, saying that the United States was reaching "the limits of its patience."
One member of the Food Safety Commission, Kiyotoshi Kaneko, charged that the government misled the commission when it said that the decision to end universal testing of all cattle slaughtered in Japan had nothing to do with attempts to reopen the market to U.S. beef, according to a Reuters report.
Consumer groups, meanwhile, have stepped up their resistance to resuming imports, noting that 65 percent of Japanese consumers oppose changing the policy.
