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Japanese not easing

Sandhusker

Well-known member
Tam, maybe you need to explain to the Japanese that it's OK, the US is using the "new" deal. :roll: :lol:



Japan farm minister won't ease beef rule for U.S
September 27, 2006

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's new Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka said on Wednesday he would follow the stance set by his predecessor of rejecting a U.S. proposal to start discussions on easing beef trade rules later this year.

Matsuoka said U.S. beef exporters must convince Japanese consumers they can fully meet current safety requirements set by the Japanese government before asking for them to be relaxed.

"We put the top priority on confirming that they have no problems with meeting the current export conditions," Matsuoka, a former ministry official, told reporters.

Japan lifted a ban on U.S. beef in July -- a prohibition that had been in place for most of time since December 2003 due to fears arising from mad cow disease.

To guard against dangers from the brain-wasting disease, Japan requires U.S. suppliers to export beef only from animals aged up to 20 months, and to eliminate specified risk materials suspected of spreading illness, such as spinal cords, before shipment.

The U.S. beef industry has been asking Japan to relax the import requirements in line with an international standard that allows trade in boneless beef from animals aged up to 30 months.

Japan first banned U.S. beef immediately after the discovery of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in December 2003.

The second ban came in January this year, just a month after Japan had lifted the two-year-old ban, when Japanese inspectors found banned material in a veal shipment from a New York company.

Asked if the government would again impose a ban on imports of U.S. beef in case of a future violation, Matsuoka said he took seriously the remarks of a former health minister supporting the action.

Former Health Minister Jiro Kawasaki said when lifting a ban on U.S. beef that he would again suspend imports if Japanese inspectors find banned material in a shipment of it.

Mad cow disease is believed to be caused by malformed proteins and spread through infected feed. The human variant of the disease is thought to be spread by eating contaminated meat and has caused over 160 deaths worldwide, including one in Japan.
 
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