Moo...
TOKYO (AP) - Just 5 1/2 weeks after lifting its ban on U.S. beef, Japan slammed the door shut again Friday, saying a recent shipment contained material it considered at risk for mad cow disease.
"This is a pity given that imports had just resumed," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters. "I received the agriculture minister's report over the telephone with his recommendation that the imports be halted and I think it is a good idea."
When asked by a reporter if this meant that all imports of U.S. beef would be stopped, Koizumi answered: "Yes."
The Japanese government plans to halt the imports until it receives a report from the U.S. government on how the risky material got into the shipment, an Agriculture Ministry statement said.
The statement said ministry inspectors found material from cattle backbone in three out of 41 boxes in a 389-kilogram shipment of beef from Atlantic Veal & Lamb Inc. All of the beef in the shipment was destroyed, the statement said.
In Washington, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the U.S. government is investigating the shipment and investigators are being dispatched to Japan.
He also said the plant that exported the meat in question is now barred from shipping more beef to Japan and the government inspector who cleared the shipment may be disciplined.
Extra inspectors were also being sent to every plant that exports meat to Japan and unannounced inspections have been ordered, Johanns said.
"We take this matter very seriously," the secretary said in a statement. "We are in communication with Japanese officials and we will continue that dialogue to assure them that we take this matter very seriously and we are acting swiftly and firmly."
Mad cow disease is the common name for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, a degenerative nerve disease in cattle that is linked to a rare but fatal nerve disorder in humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
Japan, the most lucrative overseas market for U.S. beef, originally had imposed the ban in December 2003 after the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.
Less than six weeks ago, on Dec. 12, 2005, it agreed to allow a resumption of imports, but only from cows aged 20 months or younger, which are believed unlikely to have the disease. The deal also excluded spines, brains, bone marrow and other parts of cattle thought to be at particularly high risk of containing the disease.
Before the ban that ended last December, the Japanese market for American beef was worth some $1.4 billion in 2003.
After the ban was lifted, U.S. beef began making a limited return to local supermarket shelves and restaurant menus. However, most major supermarket chains have been taking a wait-see approach.
Furthermore, Japanese consumers - who have been particularly sensitive to safety concerns - still seem to be wary of American beef.
A Kyodo News survey last month showed about 75 per cent of Japanese are unwilling to eat U.S. beef because of mad cow fears, compared with 21 per cent saying they would consume it.
The import statistics seem to reflect this caution. Japan imported a total of 745 tonnes of beef from the U.S. in the first month after the ban was partially lifted, less than four per cent of what it imported before the ban, Kyodo said last week.
American beef producers had been predicting it will take at least three years to reach the shipment levels seen before the 2003 import ban.
U.S. lawmakers have been pressing Japan to allow beef from cattle that has been slaughtered at up to 30 months of age, as called for under international animal health guidelines.
But Japanese Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa rejected those demands Wednesday, saying Japan could not accept such a change to the terms of the agreement.
The latest announcement came as a jarring setback for the U.S. meat industry, coming just as U.S. officials were talking optimistically of selling more beef in Asia despite some lingering import restrictions.
The U.S. Agriculture Department had announced Thursday that Singapore had officially ended a ban on American beef, following Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, all of which had reopened their markets in the last six weeks.
Singapore is allowing only boneless beef shipments and still will prohibit ribs and other bone-in products. Likewise, South Korea and Hong Kong are accepting only boneless cuts of beef from animals 30 months and younger.
The restrictions remain because officials fear that marrow and other bone tissues might be dangerous, although international guidelines say those tissues can be traded safely.
"This is a pity given that imports had just resumed," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters. "I received the agriculture minister's report over the telephone with his recommendation that the imports be halted and I think it is a good idea."
When asked by a reporter if this meant that all imports of U.S. beef would be stopped, Koizumi answered: "Yes."
The Japanese government plans to halt the imports until it receives a report from the U.S. government on how the risky material got into the shipment, an Agriculture Ministry statement said.
The statement said ministry inspectors found material from cattle backbone in three out of 41 boxes in a 389-kilogram shipment of beef from Atlantic Veal & Lamb Inc. All of the beef in the shipment was destroyed, the statement said.
In Washington, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the U.S. government is investigating the shipment and investigators are being dispatched to Japan.
He also said the plant that exported the meat in question is now barred from shipping more beef to Japan and the government inspector who cleared the shipment may be disciplined.
Extra inspectors were also being sent to every plant that exports meat to Japan and unannounced inspections have been ordered, Johanns said.
"We take this matter very seriously," the secretary said in a statement. "We are in communication with Japanese officials and we will continue that dialogue to assure them that we take this matter very seriously and we are acting swiftly and firmly."
Mad cow disease is the common name for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, a degenerative nerve disease in cattle that is linked to a rare but fatal nerve disorder in humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
Japan, the most lucrative overseas market for U.S. beef, originally had imposed the ban in December 2003 after the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.
Less than six weeks ago, on Dec. 12, 2005, it agreed to allow a resumption of imports, but only from cows aged 20 months or younger, which are believed unlikely to have the disease. The deal also excluded spines, brains, bone marrow and other parts of cattle thought to be at particularly high risk of containing the disease.
Before the ban that ended last December, the Japanese market for American beef was worth some $1.4 billion in 2003.
After the ban was lifted, U.S. beef began making a limited return to local supermarket shelves and restaurant menus. However, most major supermarket chains have been taking a wait-see approach.
Furthermore, Japanese consumers - who have been particularly sensitive to safety concerns - still seem to be wary of American beef.
A Kyodo News survey last month showed about 75 per cent of Japanese are unwilling to eat U.S. beef because of mad cow fears, compared with 21 per cent saying they would consume it.
The import statistics seem to reflect this caution. Japan imported a total of 745 tonnes of beef from the U.S. in the first month after the ban was partially lifted, less than four per cent of what it imported before the ban, Kyodo said last week.
American beef producers had been predicting it will take at least three years to reach the shipment levels seen before the 2003 import ban.
U.S. lawmakers have been pressing Japan to allow beef from cattle that has been slaughtered at up to 30 months of age, as called for under international animal health guidelines.
But Japanese Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa rejected those demands Wednesday, saying Japan could not accept such a change to the terms of the agreement.
The latest announcement came as a jarring setback for the U.S. meat industry, coming just as U.S. officials were talking optimistically of selling more beef in Asia despite some lingering import restrictions.
The U.S. Agriculture Department had announced Thursday that Singapore had officially ended a ban on American beef, following Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, all of which had reopened their markets in the last six weeks.
Singapore is allowing only boneless beef shipments and still will prohibit ribs and other bone-in products. Likewise, South Korea and Hong Kong are accepting only boneless cuts of beef from animals 30 months and younger.
The restrictions remain because officials fear that marrow and other bone tissues might be dangerous, although international guidelines say those tissues can be traded safely.