Japan opposition: Don't lift U.S. beef ban
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-24 17:01 Japan's opposition parties on
Saturday blasted plans to lift a ban on U.S. beef imports, citing mad cow
disease concerns.
The Japanese government agreed Wednesday to lift the ban, pending thorough
inspections of U.S. meat- processing facilities.
But the Democratic Party of Japan and three smaller opposition parties
released a statement Saturday criticizing the resumption, saying it could put
Japanese consumers at risk.
"To secure food safety for our citizens, the resumption of U.S. beef imports
should not go ahead at this stage," the statement said. Japanese consumer groups
have also opposed resuming the imports.
The parties also demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi but
the premier rebuffed the request, saying he was busy preparing for his trip to
Washington next week, according to Kyodo News agency.
Japan's ban, first imposed in 2003 over concerns that U.S. beef might be
infected with mad cow disease, was lifted at the end of last year.
Japan again halted the imports in January after a shipment was found to
contain prohibited parts of cows considered by Tokyo to be at risk of the
disease.
Mad cow disease is formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or
BSE. In humans, eating meat contaminated with BSE is linked to variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and deadly nerve disease.
Japanese inspectors plan to tour 35 U.S. meatpacking plants to ensure the
facilities comply with Japanese import regulations before allowing American beef
back into Japan.
A group of U.S. senators has proposed legislation that contains a nonbinding
call for trade sanctions unless the imports are restarted by the end of the
summer.
Koizumi is scheduled to meet U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington on
June 29.
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