September 27, 2007

 

Japan will not relax regulations on US beef

 

 

Japan will still stick to the previous import rules on beef from the United States, the new farm minister said on Wednesday (September 26).

 

Agriculture Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi, who was retained in his post after the new Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, picked his cabinet on Tuesday, was referring to the United States pressuring trading partners to abolish age limits for cattle for beef exports.  United States is one of Japan's biggest meat suppliers.

 

Japan currently limits US beef supplies to cattle aged 20 months or younger, a regulation that replaces a total ban on American beef after the United States discovered its first case of mad cow disease in December 2003.

 

Wakabayashi, 73, in a news conference, said the use of political pressure by the United States to solve its trade rift would definitely "end up in vain", adding Japan's stance will be unchanged.

 

Wakabayashi, who became farm minister in early September, reiterated his earlier comments, saying Japan must make its decision based on scientific facts.

 

Japanese government officials have been studying data provided by their US counterparts to decide whether to keep the age limit.

 

Wakabayashi said the United States has been asking Japan to accept US meat from cattle of all ages given a recent decision by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), which gave the United States a "controlled risk" status for beef safety.

 

US officials have said that the ranking shows their beef is safe and that trading partners should open their markets. Costa Rica and Paraguay

 

Earlier this month, Costa Rica said it would resume imports of US beef from animals born after a feed ban was put in place in 1997. It is believed feed contaminated by cattle parts is one way to spread the mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

 

Wakabayashi three weeks ago replaced scandal-tainted Takehiko Endo, who resigned just a week after Shinzo Abe revamped his cabinet to regain public confidence.

 

In Abe's first cabinet, Wakabayashi was also temporarily farm minister in August while at the same time serving as environmental minister.

 

This unusual arrangement came after Endo's immediate two predecessors were tainted by political corruption scandals. One of them committed suicide, while another was virtually sacked.

 

Japan's farm policy is at a turning point as a subsidies reform started this year faced criticism in rural areas, contributing to the electoral defeat of Abe's coalition in July.