Time is ripe to resume imports of U.S. beef

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Now that Washington's measures against mad cow disease have come close to meeting the conditions set by Japan for the resumption of beef imports from the United States, the Food Safety Commission should swiftly reach a conclusion on the issue.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry asked the independent commission on Tuesday to discuss whether the country should maintain its import ban. To enable Japan to reopen its market to U.S. beef, it is essential the panel determine that U.S. beef is as safe as Japanese beef. A group of experts on the commission will shortly begin examining the case.

The import ban has been in place for 1-1/2 years following the discovery in December 2003 of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, also known by its scientific name of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The United States has strongly called for an early resumption of beef shipments to Japan on a number of grounds, including that the BSE-infected cattle had been imported from Canada. Japan has refused to comply with Washington's request because the United States does not blanket test slaughtered cattle for BSE.

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Relaxation of testing

Earlier this month, the Food Safety Commission recommended Japan's BSE testing system for slaughtered cattle of all ages be revised to exclude those slaughtered at 20 months of age or younger. The panel based its recommendation on the fact the youngest cattle found infected with BSE in Japan was 21-months-old.

The commission was originally expected to take only two or three months to make its recommendations, but the process took more than six months. The delay can be attributed to the experts group only meeting on average once every three weeks and requests for substantial volumes of documents by some members of the panel.

The commission should refrain from repeating the unjustified delay in its discussions on the matter. The experts group should aim to conclude its debate as early as possible by holding comprehensive and intensive discussions as required.

With a change to Japan's testing system, it will become much easier to resume imports of U.S. beef.

Officials in Japan and the United States share a view that it is sufficient to check the quality of meat to verify the safety of cattle slaughtered at 20 months or younger that may not have been tested for BSE.

To meet Japan's safety requirements, the United States has promised to remove the brain, spinal cord and any other specified risk materials from cattle slaughtered for export to Japan.

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International shift

Given these facts, the agenda before the Food Safety Commission experts group have effectively been resolved in inter-governmental negotiations and other bilateral discussions.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), which sets international safety standards for livestock, is likely to make a decision within the week to allow the trade of boneless beef without restriction.

Although the OIE's decisions are not binding on signatory countries, they can serve as criteria for settling trade disputes at the World Trade Organization. In other words, Japan's policy of permitting imports of beef depending on the age of cattle could become the focus of a WTO dispute if a trade complaint was filed against Japan.

Japanese officials involved in the beef issue should decide taking such an international move into consideration when deciding their policy.