Raises chances of resumption of beef trade with U.S.
TOKYO (AP)--Japan's food safety panel on March 28 recommended the government stop testing cattle younger than 21 months for bovine spongiform encehpalopathy, a step toward making U.S. beef eligible for import after a 15-month ban.
Japan banned U.S. beef in December 2003 after the United States found its first BSE case. Tokyo, seeking to soothe worries at home about a domestic BSE outbreak, has refused to reopen its market to U.S. beef products until Washington adopted blanket testing for the disease.
However, the Food Safety Commission's scientific experts said research has shown that rogue proteins linked to the disease don't show up in tests on cattle younger than 21 months, and that easing the testing standards wouldn't put consumers at risk.
"We have concluded that the risk of excluding cows younger than 21 months old from inspections is negligible or extremely small," Yasuhiro Yoshikawa, who heads the scientific panel, told reporters.
Since discovering its first case of BSE in 2001, Japan has tested every cow slaughtered as food for the bovine illness to reassure consumers jittery about food safety. Tokyo has found 16 animals with the disease, most recently a Holstein cow on March 27.
The March 28 panel ruling marked the first time Japanese experts have agreed with the assessment of U.S. scientists--a key step that allows Tokyo to begin debating standards for U.S. beef imports. However, the Japanese experts didn't discuss U.S. beef on March 28.
But the Japanese panel also acknowledged that not enough is known about the disease to rule out all risk.
Eating beef from an infected cow is thought to cause the fatal human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
The ban has been costly for American beef producers who sent an estimated US $1.7 billion of beef products annually to Japan - the most lucrative overseas market.
Recently, Washington has intensified pressure on Tokyo over the issue, with some U.S. lawmakers threatening possible sanctions if the ban isn't lifted soon.
The two sides tentatively agreed in October to restart imports of U.S. beef products from young cows considered less at risk for the disease, but discussions stalled over how to confirm the age of cattle.
Washington then proposed that Tokyo relax testing standards as a first step toward dropping its ban on American beef.
For months, Japan rejected the proposal and insisted that the United States abide by the same testing restrictions for Japanese beef.
During a visit to Tokyo earlier in March, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura to agree to a timeframe for resuming the beef trade but came up empty-handed after Machimura said politicians were awaiting scientists' recommendations.
Yoshikawa stressed that U.S. pressure didn't influence the panel's decision.
"I'm not aware of any direct pressure... And of course, we never intentionally delayed the decision," he said.
The government will now hold public forums before the health and agricultural ministries consider revising domestic food safety standards, a process that reportedly could take two months.
Earlier in March, a Japanese government panel recommended that Japan begin importing U.S. grade A40 beef, which comes primarily from cattle 12 to 17 months old. A final decision has to be approved by the Food Safety Commission and then the agriculture and health ministries.
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Haven't stopped yet!
TOKYO (AP)--Japan's food safety panel on March 28 recommended the government stop testing cattle younger than 21 months for bovine spongiform encehpalopathy, a step toward making U.S. beef eligible for import after a 15-month ban.
Japan banned U.S. beef in December 2003 after the United States found its first BSE case. Tokyo, seeking to soothe worries at home about a domestic BSE outbreak, has refused to reopen its market to U.S. beef products until Washington adopted blanket testing for the disease.
However, the Food Safety Commission's scientific experts said research has shown that rogue proteins linked to the disease don't show up in tests on cattle younger than 21 months, and that easing the testing standards wouldn't put consumers at risk.
"We have concluded that the risk of excluding cows younger than 21 months old from inspections is negligible or extremely small," Yasuhiro Yoshikawa, who heads the scientific panel, told reporters.
Since discovering its first case of BSE in 2001, Japan has tested every cow slaughtered as food for the bovine illness to reassure consumers jittery about food safety. Tokyo has found 16 animals with the disease, most recently a Holstein cow on March 27.
The March 28 panel ruling marked the first time Japanese experts have agreed with the assessment of U.S. scientists--a key step that allows Tokyo to begin debating standards for U.S. beef imports. However, the Japanese experts didn't discuss U.S. beef on March 28.
But the Japanese panel also acknowledged that not enough is known about the disease to rule out all risk.
Eating beef from an infected cow is thought to cause the fatal human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
The ban has been costly for American beef producers who sent an estimated US $1.7 billion of beef products annually to Japan - the most lucrative overseas market.
Recently, Washington has intensified pressure on Tokyo over the issue, with some U.S. lawmakers threatening possible sanctions if the ban isn't lifted soon.
The two sides tentatively agreed in October to restart imports of U.S. beef products from young cows considered less at risk for the disease, but discussions stalled over how to confirm the age of cattle.
Washington then proposed that Tokyo relax testing standards as a first step toward dropping its ban on American beef.
For months, Japan rejected the proposal and insisted that the United States abide by the same testing restrictions for Japanese beef.
During a visit to Tokyo earlier in March, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura to agree to a timeframe for resuming the beef trade but came up empty-handed after Machimura said politicians were awaiting scientists' recommendations.
Yoshikawa stressed that U.S. pressure didn't influence the panel's decision.
"I'm not aware of any direct pressure... And of course, we never intentionally delayed the decision," he said.
The government will now hold public forums before the health and agricultural ministries consider revising domestic food safety standards, a process that reportedly could take two months.
Earlier in March, a Japanese government panel recommended that Japan begin importing U.S. grade A40 beef, which comes primarily from cattle 12 to 17 months old. A final decision has to be approved by the Food Safety Commission and then the agriculture and health ministries.
**********************************************************
Haven't stopped yet!