 Government may ease BSE testing on all cows An advisory panel of experts in the Cabinet Office Food Safety Commission on March 28 agreed to exempt cattle 20 months or younger from BSE testing, paving the way for the government to loosen standards for BSE testing and to lift the ban on U.S. beef imports. Amid increasing U.S. pressures on Japan to lift the ban on U.S. beef, Japan's agriculture and health ministries are called upon to make clear how to address people's anxieties about food safety, Akahata on March 29 reported. Requesting that stricter measures be taken to ban meat-and-bone meal and remove risky parts like the brain from meat, the experts' panel expressed a cautious view that the government should relax the BSE-testing standards only after ascertaining that these measures are effective. Following the panel's conclusion, the Food Safety Commission will collect opinions from consumers and report the findings to the government at the end of April. Ishiguro Masataka, deputy secretary-general of the National Federation of Farmers Movement, said, "We cannot accept the expert committee's conclusion that rules out the cattle 20 months or younger from BSE testing. This is certainly due to U.S. pressures. Most people are calling for the BSE testing on all beef cows." (end) |