Japan is showing an appetite to
lift a months-long ban on U.S. beef following the discovery of
mad-cow disease in American herds but number two Asian customer
South Korea is still baulking, officials said on Thursday.
A senior health official in Taiwan, the sixth biggest market
for U.S. beef, also expressed confidence its suspension can be
lifted, saying objections by a panel of medical experts would be
disregarded unless they could prove U.S. meat is dangerous.
But the main focus is on Japan, which accounts for some $1.4
billion in U.S. beef imports every year, making it by far the
biggest consumer.
All three Asian markets banned imports in December after the
United States reported its first case of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow.
A top food safety body in Japan has approved a report
recommending an end to testing on all cattle for mad cow, the
main point of contention between Washington and Tokyo in talks
to ease the ban.
Excluding young cattle from tests for the disease would not
raise the risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a human form of mad
cow, if material at high risk of carrying the disease is removed
from cattle slaughtered for food, the Japanese report said.
"In reviewing Japan's BSE policy, it should be fully taken
into account that cattle younger than 20 months could not be
confirmed as having BSE, out of total test results covering
about 3.5 million animals," the report said.
Japan's Food Safety Commission has acknowledged that current
tests are not sophisticated enough to catch traces of BSE in
young cattle due to the disease's long incubation period.
It will submit the report to the Agriculture and the Health,
Labour and Welfare Ministries for a decision on whether to drop
blanket testing.
SOUTH KOREA UNDER PRESSURE
South Korea is less likely to lift its ban soon as the
country does not want to spoil its clean record on the
brain-wasting disease and is seeking to diversify its sources of
beef, officials said.
However, pressure is on Seoul to lift the ban as the U.S.
links the ban to rice quota talks.
"We will discuss with the United States whether we resume
the beef imports, if Japan lifts its ban on the U.S. beef," said
Kim Chang-seob at the agriculture ministry's animal health
division.
"It is difficult to say what would be the result of the
talks, because Korea and Japan are different," the chief
veterinary officer said.
Since May, Seoul has been in talks with the United States
and other rice-exporting countries over whether to extend its
current quotas or switch to a new tariff system next year.
The United States has asked Seoul to lift the beef import
ban and then it will agree to extend the rice quota.
EVIDENCE FOR TAIWAN KEY
In Taiwan, only two or three of a 17-member panel
deliberating whether to re-open its market -- the sixth-largest
for U.S. beef with sales of $70.6 million in 2003 -- now oppose
the move, said the chairman of the panel.
"They should have some scientific reasons" for their
objections to lifting the ban," said Chen Lu-hung, a senior
official from the Department of Health.
Chen said some members of the panel, which includes doctors,
veterinarians and pathologists, had quoted unverified website
reports concerning the dangers of U.S. beef instead of
documented scientific research.
If the ban is lifted, the Taiwan government may impose
conditions on U.S. beef, such as only importing meat from cattle
under 30 months of age, which carry a smaller risk of
contracting mad cow, said Chen.
lift a months-long ban on U.S. beef following the discovery of
mad-cow disease in American herds but number two Asian customer
South Korea is still baulking, officials said on Thursday.
A senior health official in Taiwan, the sixth biggest market
for U.S. beef, also expressed confidence its suspension can be
lifted, saying objections by a panel of medical experts would be
disregarded unless they could prove U.S. meat is dangerous.
But the main focus is on Japan, which accounts for some $1.4
billion in U.S. beef imports every year, making it by far the
biggest consumer.
All three Asian markets banned imports in December after the
United States reported its first case of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow.
A top food safety body in Japan has approved a report
recommending an end to testing on all cattle for mad cow, the
main point of contention between Washington and Tokyo in talks
to ease the ban.
Excluding young cattle from tests for the disease would not
raise the risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a human form of mad
cow, if material at high risk of carrying the disease is removed
from cattle slaughtered for food, the Japanese report said.
"In reviewing Japan's BSE policy, it should be fully taken
into account that cattle younger than 20 months could not be
confirmed as having BSE, out of total test results covering
about 3.5 million animals," the report said.
Japan's Food Safety Commission has acknowledged that current
tests are not sophisticated enough to catch traces of BSE in
young cattle due to the disease's long incubation period.
It will submit the report to the Agriculture and the Health,
Labour and Welfare Ministries for a decision on whether to drop
blanket testing.
SOUTH KOREA UNDER PRESSURE
South Korea is less likely to lift its ban soon as the
country does not want to spoil its clean record on the
brain-wasting disease and is seeking to diversify its sources of
beef, officials said.
However, pressure is on Seoul to lift the ban as the U.S.
links the ban to rice quota talks.
"We will discuss with the United States whether we resume
the beef imports, if Japan lifts its ban on the U.S. beef," said
Kim Chang-seob at the agriculture ministry's animal health
division.
"It is difficult to say what would be the result of the
talks, because Korea and Japan are different," the chief
veterinary officer said.
Since May, Seoul has been in talks with the United States
and other rice-exporting countries over whether to extend its
current quotas or switch to a new tariff system next year.
The United States has asked Seoul to lift the beef import
ban and then it will agree to extend the rice quota.
EVIDENCE FOR TAIWAN KEY
In Taiwan, only two or three of a 17-member panel
deliberating whether to re-open its market -- the sixth-largest
for U.S. beef with sales of $70.6 million in 2003 -- now oppose
the move, said the chairman of the panel.
"They should have some scientific reasons" for their
objections to lifting the ban," said Chen Lu-hung, a senior
official from the Department of Health.
Chen said some members of the panel, which includes doctors,
veterinarians and pathologists, had quoted unverified website
reports concerning the dangers of U.S. beef instead of
documented scientific research.
If the ban is lifted, the Taiwan government may impose
conditions on U.S. beef, such as only importing meat from cattle
under 30 months of age, which carry a smaller risk of
contracting mad cow, said Chen.
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