Japan Halting U.S. Beef Imports

Japan halted all imports of U.S. beef because of mad cow fears Friday, threatening millions of dollars in American trade and sending officials scrambling to repair delicate business relations. Japan's sudden order came just six weeks after the country had lifted a two-year ban on American beef. The problem this time: discovery of bone — a mad cow disease risk, Asian countries say — in a shipment of veal from a plant in New York. Secretary Mike Johanns called the problem "an unacceptable failure" to meet Japan's requirements. He dispatched inspectors to Japan and ordered unannounced inspections at U.S. plants. "We are taking this matter very seriously, recognizing the importance of our beef export markets," Johanns said.
Japan's top government spokesman will protest against the discovery of bone material in a shipment of U.S. beef when he meets soon with a U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, a news report said Saturday.
Japanese inspectors found material from cattle backbone in three of 41 boxes in a 858-pound shipment of beef from Atlantic Veal & Lamb. All the beef in the shipment was destroyed. Company officials called it an "honest mistake" and said they misinterpreted the export rules. Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, said the situation was "a pity given that imports had just resumed." He told reporters, "I received the agriculture minister's report with his recommendation that the imports be halted and I think it is a good idea." He was referring to Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who had visited Johanns in Washington on Dec. 13
Mad cow disease is the common term for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. It is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle linked to a rare but fatal human disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. People have gotten it by eating meat or cattle products contaminated with mad cow disease. There have been two cases of BSE in the United States and 21 cases in Japan.