The watering hole is poisoned ... and an entire industry is at risk
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Tokyo bars EU report on risk of BSE in Japan
By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo
Published: June 18 2001 19:46GMT | Last Updated: June 18 2001 19:58GMT
The Japanese government has blocked the publication of a European Union report on the potential for an outbreak of BSE, or mad cow disease, in Japan, which continued to import meat and bone meal from the EU until recently.
"We have been negotiating with the EU on certain parts of their assessment," an official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Monday. The Japanese object to the assessment method and the use of some data obtained independently by EU officials, he said.
The move highlights growing concerns in Japan about the dangers of imported foodstuffs and is being made at a time when domestic beef, which is expensive, faces growing competition from cheaper beef imported from the US and Australia.
The Japanese authorities came under fire from consumer groups for dragging their feet over genetically modified organisms. To add to the concerns, StarLink, the genetically modified corn, has been found in corn imported from the US, forcing food companies to pull products off supermarket shelves.
The Japanese authorities initially co-operated with the assessment programme of the European Commission's scientific steering committee (SSC) and provided data for its assessment.
The committee has concluded that while there is no evidence of BSE in Japan, the risk cannot be ruled out.
While the ministry objects to the SSC's assessment, it is one that Japanese scientists appear to agree with.
"We believe that the chances of BSE in Japan are very low," says Takashi Yokoyama at the National Institute of Animal Health. Although Japan fed its cows meat and bone meal imported from the UK and other parts of Europe, the amount was very small, Mr Yokoyama notes.
However, it is also true that Japan stopped importing meat and bone meal from the UK only in 1996. As BSE has an incubation period of about five years, it is only now that any signs of the disease would start to be detected, he conceded.
"Nobody can say there is zero risk," Mr Yokoyama said. The best way to deal with that risk is to inspect cows that die from any disease, a procedure Japan introduced in April.
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