November 16, 2004

Japan to Confirm Spinal Cords Removal Issue before US beef Shipments

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan plans to confirm the complete removal of spinal cords from carcasses before shipments from the United States, according to ministry officials on Monday. This move is a step towards lifting Japan's import ban on American beef.

The ministry will ask the US government to submit reports on how it removes spinal cords from carcasses as well as data on results of the work.

Spinal cords are among the cattle parts most exposed to mad cow disease.

As the US way of removing spinal cords from carcasses is reportedly different from the Japanese method, "We need to thoroughly confirm the effectiveness of the US method," a ministry official said.

Japan has banned beef imports from the United States since mad cow disease was found in the state of Washington last December.

With plans to exempt cows aged 20 months and younger from testing for the disease so as to resume imports, the ministry intends to take all possible steps to confirm the safety of American beef.

The ministry plans to ask the government's Food Safety Commission to discuss effective ways of confirming the ages of cattle and the removal of spinal cords from carcasses.