December 10, 2007

Japan may relax rules on US beef imports

Japan will consider easing restrictions on US beef imports, in what seemed to be an apparent compromise after months of pressure from Washington to do so, according to a report by Kyodo News Agency Friday (December 7).

Agriculture Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi offered new considerations, including an extension of age from 30 months and under following the latest round of talks between Japanese and US farm officials earlier Friday over Tokyo's restrictions on American beef.

Japan, which banned American beef imports due to mad cow disease, is allowing imported meat from young cattle aged 20 months or younger, on conditions certain bones and the spinal cord have been removed and the meat has been processed at selected plants.

Washington has demanded Tokyo scrap all age restrictions.

Agriculture ministry officials were not immediately available for comment late Friday.

Earlier Friday, a senior US farm official said Japan had indicated it could ease restrictions on American beef imports, but Washington wants Japan to remove all restrictions.

Japanese officials, on the other hand, earlier denied making any concessions during the talks, saying their safety standard was unchanged.

Easing the ban in July 2006, many Japanese consumers have remained wary of the safety of American beef, following repeated mishandling and shipment of banned parts over the past few years. Japan's imports of US beef since dwindled at a fraction of the levels before the first ban, prompting Washington's frustration. Japan used to be the largest consumer of American beef.

Eating meat products with infected tissue is linked to a rare, fatal illness, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, that has killed more than 150 people worldwide, most of them in Britain.