January 27, 2004

Japan Unlikely To Lift US Beef Ban

Japan's ban on US beef is unlikely to be lifted in the foreseeable future as the United States fail to adopt sufficient preventive measures. However, Japan is keen to conduct further talks with their American counterparts, a spokesman for the Japanese government said on Monday.

Japan, the most lucrative overseas market for U.S. beef, imposed the ban on Dec. 24 after the discovery of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in Washington state. Japan was one of 30 countries that suspended beef imports from the U.S.

A U.S. delegation came to Tokyo last week hoping to convince Japanese agricultural officials that screening measures put in place in late December guaranteed the safety of American beef exports, but the talks ended without a breakthrough.

"We haven't reached a point that would lead us to resolve the issue at an early date," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told reporters Monday. "I'm afraid it will require a certain amount of time."

Fukuda said he hoped the two countries would hold more talks on the issue.

Since 2002, Japan has tested every cow for the illness, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and Tokyo is pressing Washington to implement a similar system. U.S. officials, however, say testing every cow is inefficient and would be too costly for the much larger American herd. 

Mad cow disease is a public health concern because scientists believe humans who eat brain or spinal matter from an infected cow can develop a variant known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The incurable disease caused at least 143 deaths in the U.K. during a 1980s outbreak there.

Japan bought about US$1 billion worth of U.S. beef and beef products in 2002.