Australia bans Japanese beef over mad cow fear

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010925a2.htm

 

Australia bans Japanese beef over mad cow fear

 

SYDNEY (Kyodo) Australia on Monday banned imports of

beef and beef products from Japan after a dairy cow in

Chiba Prefecture was confirmed as having had mad cow

disease.

 

Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said Australia

imports only about 2,000 kg of high-quality beef from

Japan annually for specialized restaurants.

 

" However, retailers are being advised to remove any

Japanese beef products from their shelves and the

Australia New Zealand Food Authority advises consumers

to discard any Japanese beef products they may have at

home, " he said in a statement.

 

The cow in Chiba Prefecture was confirmed as Asia's

first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, after tests in Britain over the

weekend.

 

Australia will move to protect its valuable Japanese

export market for beef, having already sent 336,000

tons of Australian beef worth A$1.7 billion (about

$850 million) in the financial year to July, Truss

said.

 

" We will continue to monitor and assess any market

impact of the BSE situation in Japan and will take

action as required to reassure Japanese consumers

about the quality and safety of Australian beef, " he

said.

 

" We want to assure all our customers -- domestic and

overseas -- that Australia's cattle are clinically

free of BSE and that there are strict measures in

place to maintain our BSE-free status. "

 

Mike Hayward, general manager of overseas operations

for Meat and Livestock Australia, said an outbreak of

mad cow disease in Japan could have a serious impact

on Australian beef producers.

 

Experience from outbreaks in Europe shows that

consumers tend to turn away from beef altogether,

rather than toward safe sources of beef.

 

" In value terms, (Japan) is our biggest market . . .

therefore it really has an impact right through the

meat industry here if we have problems there, " Hayward

told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

 

" Certainly our experience in the past is that anything

to do with BSE is not good, " he said. " From my

experience, if they turn off beef, that will have an

impact right across the suppliers. " We've got about

30-odd percent of the market, so we're not going to

get away without some adverse reaction if consumption

does decline. "

 

The Japan Times: Sept. 25, 2001

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