What's the beef? US aims to relax ban
By Tomoko A. Hosaka |
April 9, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WASHINGTON and Tokyo agreed yesterday to start talking again about American beef, a small but significant step toward relaxing import restrictions that have hindered access to the Japanese market.
United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met his Japanese counterpart, Hirotaka Akamatsu, during a four-day trip to promote ties. Pushing for new beef rules topped the agenda.
After the meeting, Vilsack said the US and Japan will hold a series of senior and working level meetings to set a "mutually agreeable framework" for beef imports.
"This issue remains a high priority for the United States, and the US objective remains a framework that is consistent with science and international standards," he said.
Japan banned US beef imports in December 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease was found there. Shipments resumed in January 2006, but under strict restrictions.
US beef shipped to Japan must come from cattle aged under 20 months, considered less at risk for the disease. US exporters must also remove spinal columns, brain tissue and other materials from shipments bound for Japan.
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative nerve disease. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.
US has repeatedly declared American beef safe and criticized Japan's import restriction as scientifically unsound, but many Japanese consumers remain wary.
The US shipped 81,345 tons of beef and beef products to Japan last year, about a quarter of 2003 levels.
United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met his Japanese counterpart, Hirotaka Akamatsu, during a four-day trip to promote ties. Pushing for new beef rules topped the agenda.
After the meeting, Vilsack said the US and Japan will hold a series of senior and working level meetings to set a "mutually agreeable framework" for beef imports.
"This issue remains a high priority for the United States, and the US objective remains a framework that is consistent with science and international standards," he said.
Japan banned US beef imports in December 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease was found there. Shipments resumed in January 2006, but under strict restrictions.
US beef shipped to Japan must come from cattle aged under 20 months, considered less at risk for the disease. US exporters must also remove spinal columns, brain tissue and other materials from shipments bound for Japan.
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative nerve disease. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.
US has repeatedly declared American beef safe and criticized Japan's import restriction as scientifically unsound, but many Japanese consumers remain wary.
The US shipped 81,345 tons of beef and beef products to Japan last year, about a quarter of 2003 levels.
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