February 10, 2004

USDA Delegation To Visit Japan For Mad Cow Talks

U..S. Department of Agriculture Underecretary J.B. Penn will travel to Japan soon to continue trying to convince officials there to lift a ban on U.S. beef, a USDA official said Monday.

Ron DeHaven, USDA's chief veterinarian, said Penn will leave for Japan sometime "later this week or the early part of next week" to continue discussions over Japan's ban.

Penn is the undersecretary for farm and foreign agriculture services at the USDA.

Japan, traditionally the largest foreign market for U.S. beef, enacted the ban shortly after the U.S. announced it discovered a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, on Dec. 23.

The U.S. exported 352,448 metric tons of beef to Japan from January through November last year, worth about $1.3 billion, according to USDA data compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

DeHaven said Penn's efforts in Japan may be strengthened by the fact that the USDA has now concluded its investigation into the BSE case and no new cases have been reported.

The USDA tested 255 cattle for BSE as part of its investigation into the case discovered in the state of Washington, he said.