- TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan said
on Monday it would not resume U.S. beef imports without an explanation
of how banned spinal material, believed to carry a high risk of causing
a human form of mad cow disease, came to be found in a shipment of U.S.
meat last week.
-
- Japanese Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said he
could not be certain when Japan would restart imports of U.S. beef after
Tokyo reimposed a ban last week.
-
- "The important thing is to deal with the matter
step by step," Nakagawa told reporters after a telephone conference
with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.
-
- Nakagawa said Johanns promised Japan that Washington
will provide the information on beef imports as quickly as possible.
-
- On Tuesday, there will be high-level talks on the issue
between the U.S. Agriculture Department and Japan's Agriculture, Foreign
and Health Ministries in Tokyo, attended by USDA Undersecretary J.B. Penn,
a Japanese official said.
-
- Japan, formerly the biggest market for U.S. beef, just
last month had lifted a ban on imports imposed in 2003 after the first
U.S. case of the disease was found in a cow in Washington state.
-
- As a condition of lifting the ban, Japan said all risk
material, such a spinal cords and brains, that could cause the brain-wasting
disease must be completely removed.
-
- Imports were halted again after the banned material was
found in a shipment of U.S. beef on Friday.
-
- "First of all, the United States must find out the
cause, then introduce measures to prevent this from happening again,"
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told a news conference.
-
- "We will make a decision based on that," he
added, when asked about the ban.
-
- The government will also ask Japanese importers to check
whether any banned material has been included in U.S. beef imported since
the ban was lifted, Abe said.
-
- Abe later met U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick
and quoted him as saying in their meeting that the United States would
do its best to investigate the cause of the problem and relieve Japanese
consumers' concerns over safety.
-
- Zoellick did not specify when the U.S. side would submit
a report on the incident to Japan, Abe told reporters.
-
- Zoellick later said he had told Japanese officials that
the United States took the issue seriously.
-
- "I repeated the point that ... this was an unacceptable
mistake," Zoellick told reporters.
-
- "I emphasised we took it very seriously. I know
it's a great point of sensitivity in Japan," said Zoellick, adding
that Penn would arrive in Tokyo on Monday for further discussions.
-
- PM UNDER FIRE
-
- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, known for his close
ties to the U.S. government, came under fire over the beef issue in parliament
on Monday.
-
- "The prime minister bears a heavy responsibility,
as this is the result of a political decision to lift the import ban quickly
in response to repeated requests from the U.S. government," said Seiji
Maehara, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.
-
- "The government put the U.S.-Japan alliance first,
ignoring the most important issue -- the lives and health of the people,"
Maehara added.
-
- Koizumi said Japan reimposed the ban on U.S. beef as
soon as inspectors found the banned material, and he reiterated that an
explanation was being sought from the United States to put Japanese consumers'
minds at ease.
-
- Japanese consumer groups urged the government on Monday
to recall all the U.S. beef from the Japanese market and not lift the import
ban.
-
- "We strongly criticise the Japanese government's
decision last month to resume U.S. beef imports, and they should take responsibility
for the wrong decision," said Yasuaki Yamaura, vice chairman of Consumers
Union of Japan.
-
- Japan had imported about 1,500 tonnes of U.S. beef since
easing the two-year-old ban on Dec. 12.
-
- In a meeting with government officials on Monday, the
consumer groups also asked Japan's Food Safety Commission to revise its
assessment on U.S. beef safety.
-
- On Dec. 8, the commission finalised a report that beef
from American cattle aged up to 20 months were at very low risk from mad
cow disease if specified risk materials were removed, paving the way for
the government to lift the ban.
-
- "The Food Safety Commission should conduct risk
assessment on U.S. beef again. Otherwise we cannot eat beef without fears,"
said Junko Taya, the head of BSE Citizens' Network.
|
