Japan Eases Blanket Testing for Mad Cow Disease

Aug. 1–TOKYO — The government eased Japan’s blanket testing of cattle for mad cow disease Monday, a move that may pave the way for the resumption of U.S. and Canadian beef imports.

With the step, cattle slaughtered at 20 months of age or younger can be excluded from blanket testing for the brain-wasting disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

The eased testing resulted from amendments to the anti-BSE law, which raised the lower age limit on testing of slaughtered cows to 21 months from zero.

The revision came after Japan’s independent Food Safety Commission proposed in May that the government ease testing.

The panel of experts said that even if young cattle are excluded from the blanket testing, “a resultant increase in BSE risks in meats will be extremely low.” The commission ensured safety while recommending the removal of brain and other parts that are likely infected with BSE from young cattle before their meat enters the market.

The government began testing all domestically- and foreign-raised cattle in October 2001 after finding Japan’s first case of mad cow disease the previous month.

Japan banned imports of Canadian beef in May 2003 and of U.S. beef in December 2003 after the discovery of the first cases of BSE in the two countries. Japan has told the United States and Canada that similar blanket testing by them is a condition for Japan to resume beef imports from them.

Monday’s move is expected to pave the way for Japan to import beef of U.S. and Canadian cattle at 20 months of age or younger.

—–

To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com

Copyright (c) 2005, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.