August 6, 2007

 

Japan may relax age limit rules on US beef imports

 

 

Japan is seen to ease its age limit on US beef imports after the two countries ended their two-day working-level talks in Tokyo.

 

Japanese delegates said they find no serious problems in US responses to its questions during the talks and it may accept meat from cattle aged 30 months or younger by the end of this year, easing the current rule that limits the age to 20 months or younger over fears of mad cow disease.

 

However, the final decision will still come from Japan's Food Safety Commission, an independent panel of scientists that assesses possible risks. The government is will seek advice from the panel possibly this month, said the officials.

 

Japan has already stopped checking all US beef imports by opening all boxes as the government found no major offences under bilateral arrangements when it sent officials to inspect beef processing facilities in the United States in May. The countries then started working-level talks in June.

 

However, as domestic cattle aged 20 months or older are obliged to be tested for mad cow disease, the government may be forced to explain to the public about why it is softening the rules only for US beef.

 

At the latest talks, its second following its pioneer talks in June, the two countries discussed US beef safety in reference to scientific data.

 

Japan has asked the United States to submit documents concerning a range of issues such as regulations on the use of meat-and-bone meal, which is believed to be a source of the brain-wasting disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), according to the officials.

 

The Japanese officials quoted the US representatives as saying that 98 percent or more of animal feed stuff makers in the United States have not used meat-and-bone meal, thus, "decreasing the risk of BSE".

 

Japan is to assess the data presented by the United States, and the countries will jointly release a report on the measures Washington has taken.

 

The Japanese government will hold public hearings nationwide before calling for advice from the food safety panel, which is expected to take a few months to work out its conclusions.

 

The US government has been asking Japan to ease the import conditions since the World Organization for Animal Health gave the green light in May for the United States to export beef regardless of the age of the cattle the beef comes from.