January 23, 2006

Japan halts US beef imports again 

The Japanese government has stopped importing US beef after a shipment of the product was found to have contained cattle backbone, which violated terms of the two countries' trade agreement. 

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made the announcement Friday after receiving a report on the incident from his agriculture minister. The two men agreed it was best to halt US beef imports until the safety issue can be resolved.

Japan partially resumed imports of US beef last month after rounds of negotiation between US and Japanese officials on details for exports, including age of the bovine and cuts of meat.

US Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said that USDA is investigating beef shipments sent to Japan that might contain material considered at risk for BSE, or mad-cow disease.

Atlantic Veal and Lamb, the US meat processing company that sent the shipment of beef, has been delisted and can no longer export beef to Japan.

Mad-cow disease is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle that is linked to a rare but fatal nerve disorder in humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Johanns added that he is sending more USDA inspectors to every plant approved for Japanese beef exports to ensure compliance with the export agreements, requiring two inspectors to review each shipment destined for Japan, along with unannounced inspections at every plant approved for beef export.

Japan had completely banned US beef after Dec 23, 2003 when the first case of BSE was found in the US. Prior to the ban, Japan was the largest international customer of US beef.