October 8, 2004

Japan To Effectively Maintain Blanket Mad Cow Testing System

The Japanese government plans to continue providing subsidies to local governments to help them cover expenses incurred in conducting blanket testing for mad cow disease. This decision amounts to maintaining the current all-cattle testing regime, according to government sources.

Even if the central government decides to end the blanket testing system, it will accept blanket testing by local governments and pay for their costs, the sources said.

The provision of necessary subsidies will be maintained for the time being, they said.

If the number of local government-level recipients of such subsidies accounts for the great majority of local governments across the nation, the decision will amount to an effective maintenance of the current all-cattle testing system, they said.

The government will not abandon the new policy of limiting the scope of cattle subject to testing for mad cow disease to those aged 21 months and over.

But it will continue to help local governments implement all-cattle testing for the illness, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, as long as local governments volunteer to implement such testing, they said.

The government presently provides a total of 3 billion yen a year to local governments to help them pay for the costs of BSE examination kits and other relevant expenses.

Many legislators in the ruling coalition have been calling on the government not to accept compromises with the US government. Japan has been urged to soften its testing regime so that the current import ban on US beef can be removed.