A
Anonymous
Guest
Tam- Were you aware of this? Is this a new change?
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OIE reinstates cattle age limit in beef safety guidelines
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has reinstated a 30-month age limit on beef cattle in a proposal to revise its beef safety guidelines, Mamoru Ishihara, Japan's vice agriculture minister said Thursday.
The Paris-based organization in charge of the health of livestock drew opposition from Japan and the European Union after it unveiled a proposal in November 2005 to remove the age limit from the current guidelines.
According to the current OIE rule, only beef taken from cows aged up to 30 months can be traded freely on the international market for fear that beef from older cows may contain a buildup of abnormal prion proteins, which cause mad cow disease, formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.
The OIE guidelines are not binding. But the United States is expected to press Japan harder on beef trade if the guidelines are eased.
Speaking at a press conference, Ishihara said certain progress has been made in modifying the OIE proposal. He expressed Japan's intention to strive to have the new proposal adopted at an OIE general meeting in Paris from May 21.
In December 2005, Japan eased its two-year ban on U.S. beef, permitting imports of meat taken from cattle aged up to 20 months on condition that brain, spine and all other cattle parts with a high risk of BSE infection be removed.
However, Japan again banned all beef imports from the United States only a month later following the discovery of backbone in a shipment of U.S. beef. (Jiji Press)
May 11, 2006
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060511p2a00m0na035000c.html
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OIE reinstates cattle age limit in beef safety guidelines
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has reinstated a 30-month age limit on beef cattle in a proposal to revise its beef safety guidelines, Mamoru Ishihara, Japan's vice agriculture minister said Thursday.
The Paris-based organization in charge of the health of livestock drew opposition from Japan and the European Union after it unveiled a proposal in November 2005 to remove the age limit from the current guidelines.
According to the current OIE rule, only beef taken from cows aged up to 30 months can be traded freely on the international market for fear that beef from older cows may contain a buildup of abnormal prion proteins, which cause mad cow disease, formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.
The OIE guidelines are not binding. But the United States is expected to press Japan harder on beef trade if the guidelines are eased.
Speaking at a press conference, Ishihara said certain progress has been made in modifying the OIE proposal. He expressed Japan's intention to strive to have the new proposal adopted at an OIE general meeting in Paris from May 21.
In December 2005, Japan eased its two-year ban on U.S. beef, permitting imports of meat taken from cattle aged up to 20 months on condition that brain, spine and all other cattle parts with a high risk of BSE infection be removed.
However, Japan again banned all beef imports from the United States only a month later following the discovery of backbone in a shipment of U.S. beef. (Jiji Press)
May 11, 2006
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060511p2a00m0na035000c.html