July 29, 2011
Eleven Japanese prefectures to test cattle for radiation
Japan's 11 prefectures have decided to test all beef cattle for radiation contamination after some prefectures detected cattle with radioactive cesium above the allowable level set by the central government.
The 11 prefectures include Yamagata and Shizuoka, which have already started to test beef cattle for radiation contamination.
The central government is reluctant to conduct such tests on all beef cattle across the country except for some parts of Fukushima Prefecture, but eight other prefectures are considering testing all beef cows. A heated debate is likely to emerge on who should shoulder the costs for radiation tests.
Japan first started to test all beef cattle in 2001 after several cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as "mad-cow disease," were discovered in the country. The tests helped restore consumer confidence in beef. But cesium tests are more complex than those for BSE, and there are only a limited number of measuring instruments.
Although tests on all beef cattle are being conducted mainly by prefectural governments, local chapters of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) in Tochigi and Shizuoka prefectures are conducting such tests on beef cattle kept by member farmers.
The cost of testing one beef cow amounts to about JPY20,000 (US$257). The number of beef cows that are subject to such tests is at least about 190,000, and if all of them were to be tested, it would cost about JPY4 billion (US$51.4 million).
In the meantime, some of the eight prefectures including Aomori, Osaka and Kagoshima, which are considering testing all beef cattle for radiation contamination, are worried about the possibility of the measures restricting shipments because they cannot secure testing systems fast enough.
The central government decided on July 27 to order the suspension of all shipments of beef cattle from Miyagi Prefecture under the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness.
Miyagi will be the second prefecture to ban all shipments of beef cattle after Fukushima. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and other groups, 1,031 beef cows were shipped from Miyagi Prefecture after being fed rice straw contaminated with radioactive cesium.
