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2012 September 5 - 11 [AGRICULTURE]

Gov’t expert panel approves relaxation of US beef import restrictions

A green light to relax restrictions on U.S. beef imports given by a government panel on food safety has caused widespread anger among the general public.

The panel on September 5 reached a conclusion that an increase in the age limit of U.S. beef shipped to Japan from the current 20 months to 30 months will cause no harmful impact on people’s health.

The panel also accepted that beef no more than 30 months old will be excluded from the obligation to remove such high-risk parts as brain and spinal cord from meat, which is currently applied for cattle of any age. The conclusion will be passed on to the Food Safety Commission of the Health Ministry.

The Commission will finalize the report and then submit it to the ministry.

The Japanese government banned U.S. beef imports in December 2003 following the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as mad cow disease, in the U.S. Two years later, Japan resumed imports of beef from cattle 20 months or younger under certain conditions.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry last December asked the Commission to assess risks of easing the restriction on U.S. beef imports to 30 months or younger.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kami Tomoko criticized the panel’s conclusion as paving the way for Japan’s entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade pact.

“Japan has been under repeated U.S. pressure to relax the restrictions. It is obvious that the Japanese government bowed to such pressure. We will work harder to block that measure and to secure food safety,” Kami said.