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Japan official nixes US beef demands
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-20 09:01
Japan's agriculture minister rejected U.S. demands that Tokyo accept beef
from cows older than 20 months, saying Japan would not change the condition
under which the ban on U.S. beef imports was lifted last December.
"From the American point of view, I understand the request," Agriculture
Minister Shoichi Nakagawa told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of
Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday. "However, Japan cannot accept it."
Japan lifted a nearly 2-year-old embargo on U.S. beef on Dec. 12, 2005. The
country had been the most lucrative export market for American ranchers before
they were shut out in December 2003, when the first case of mad cow disease was
found in the U.S. herd.
After months of negotiation, the two sides agreed to allow the importation of
meat from younger cows, which so far have been free of the disease.
However, U.S. lawmakers have been pressing Japan to allow beef from cattle
that has been slaughtered at up to 30 months of age, as called for under
international animal health guidelines.
Despite its return to local supermarket shelves and restaurant menus, U.S.
beef still faces an uphill struggle in Japan, where consumers are particularly
sensitive to safety concerns.
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