Oldtimer
Well-known member
USDA/NCBA could care less for the US cattleman/producer as long as they keep protecting the interests of Tyson/Cargil who are already shipping beef to Japan from their foreign plants... :( :mad:
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Japan opposition says no US beef imports by June
Reuters
Tue Apr 25, 2006
By Aya Takada
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is unlikely to allow U.S. beef imports to restart by the end of the current parliamentary session in June because opposition lawmakers will step up efforts to block a resumption, Japan's largest opposition party said on Tuesday.
Masahiko Yamada, who is in charge of farm policy at the Democratic Party of Japan, said the party would urge the government to keep a ban on U.S. beef until Washington tightens animal feed rules to stop the spread of mad cow disease.
"We will do our best at the agriculture committee of the lower house, where opposition lawmakers take the initiative in debate," Yamada said.
The current session of parliament is due to end on June 18, although ruling parties may extend it for the passage of key bills.
Japan suspended U.S. beef imports on January 20, just a month after it partially lifted a two-year-old ban on U.S. beef imposed over mad cow disease fears, when Japanese inspectors discovered banned spinal material in a veal shipment from New York.
The government has said it would not allow imports to restart until Washington found the cause of the violation and took measures to prevent a recurrence.
However, Yamada said it would be hard for the United States to prevent similar incidents completely, since U.S. companies made repeated shipments of banned cattle parts to Hong Kong this year.
Hong Kong this month suspended beef imports from a Cargill processing plant in Kansas after finding bones that the United States had agreed would be removed to reduce the risk of mad cow disease.
Last month Hong Kong had suspended beef imports from another U.S. processing plant.
Japan last December lifted a ban on U.S. beef on condition that the meat was from animals no older than 20 months and that specified risk materials that could spread mad cow disease, such as spinal cords, were removed before shipment.
Yamada said these conditions were inadequate to ensure the safety of U.S. beef. He said he saw for himself that U.S. meat plants had trouble adhering to the requirements when he and his party colleagues visited facilities there earlier this year.
He said the largest problem with the U.S. safety measures against mad cow disease was that the government still allows specified risk materials from cattle to be used as feed for other animals such as pigs and chickens.
Although the U.S. government bans the use of cattle parts for cattle feed, American cattle are at the risk of eating banned materials as they can be fed with spilled chicken feed, he said.
"The Japanese government should ask the United States to tighten animal feed regulations as a prerequisite for an import resumption," he said.
If Washington does not tighten feed rules, Yamada said, Japan could still allow beef imports from U.S. companies that can supply beef from cattle tested negative for mad cow disease, such as Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC.
Last month, the Kansas company sued the U.S. Agriculture Department in an effort to be allowed to voluntarily test its cattle for mad cow disease. The USDA opposes private testing of cattle.
Mad cow disease, formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is believed to be caused by malformed proteins and spread through infected feed.
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Japan opposition says no US beef imports by June
Reuters
Tue Apr 25, 2006
By Aya Takada
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is unlikely to allow U.S. beef imports to restart by the end of the current parliamentary session in June because opposition lawmakers will step up efforts to block a resumption, Japan's largest opposition party said on Tuesday.
Masahiko Yamada, who is in charge of farm policy at the Democratic Party of Japan, said the party would urge the government to keep a ban on U.S. beef until Washington tightens animal feed rules to stop the spread of mad cow disease.
"We will do our best at the agriculture committee of the lower house, where opposition lawmakers take the initiative in debate," Yamada said.
The current session of parliament is due to end on June 18, although ruling parties may extend it for the passage of key bills.
Japan suspended U.S. beef imports on January 20, just a month after it partially lifted a two-year-old ban on U.S. beef imposed over mad cow disease fears, when Japanese inspectors discovered banned spinal material in a veal shipment from New York.
The government has said it would not allow imports to restart until Washington found the cause of the violation and took measures to prevent a recurrence.
However, Yamada said it would be hard for the United States to prevent similar incidents completely, since U.S. companies made repeated shipments of banned cattle parts to Hong Kong this year.
Hong Kong this month suspended beef imports from a Cargill processing plant in Kansas after finding bones that the United States had agreed would be removed to reduce the risk of mad cow disease.
Last month Hong Kong had suspended beef imports from another U.S. processing plant.
Japan last December lifted a ban on U.S. beef on condition that the meat was from animals no older than 20 months and that specified risk materials that could spread mad cow disease, such as spinal cords, were removed before shipment.
Yamada said these conditions were inadequate to ensure the safety of U.S. beef. He said he saw for himself that U.S. meat plants had trouble adhering to the requirements when he and his party colleagues visited facilities there earlier this year.
He said the largest problem with the U.S. safety measures against mad cow disease was that the government still allows specified risk materials from cattle to be used as feed for other animals such as pigs and chickens.
Although the U.S. government bans the use of cattle parts for cattle feed, American cattle are at the risk of eating banned materials as they can be fed with spilled chicken feed, he said.
"The Japanese government should ask the United States to tighten animal feed regulations as a prerequisite for an import resumption," he said.
If Washington does not tighten feed rules, Yamada said, Japan could still allow beef imports from U.S. companies that can supply beef from cattle tested negative for mad cow disease, such as Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC.
Last month, the Kansas company sued the U.S. Agriculture Department in an effort to be allowed to voluntarily test its cattle for mad cow disease. The USDA opposes private testing of cattle.
Mad cow disease, formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is believed to be caused by malformed proteins and spread through infected feed.
