Japanese panel: Eliminating BSE tests for young cattle a possibility

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Beef News

Japanese panel: Eliminating BSE tests for young cattle

a possibility

 

by Ann Bagel on 7/19/04 for Meatingplace.com

 

A draft report released by a Japanese government panel

studying BSE testing policies concluded that testing

young cattle for the brain-wasting disease is neither

useful nor necessary to protect human health,

according to published reports.

 

Animals younger than 30 months old are generally not

considered at risk of developing BSE, and the report

said that younger cattle do not accumulate enough of

the prions thought to cause the disease to be detected

by current tests.

 

Japan is the only country that mandates all

slaughtered cattle be tested for BSE. That requirement

has shut down beef trade between Japan and the U.S.,

but if the Japanese government adopts this latest

report, that could change.

 

Rumors that blanket BSE testing may soon end in Japan

are not new. (See Sources say Japan may abandon

blanket BSE testing, Meatingplace.com, July 12, 2004.)

They started to surface following the most recent

round of beef trade talks between Japan and the U.S.

(See Japan said to have backed off 100 percent BSE

testing demand at trade meeting, Meatingplace.com,

July 2, 2004.)

 

The final set of talks between the two countries is

scheduled in Tokyo starting July 21.

 

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman on Friday

expressed optimism about the progress of the

discussions and the potential to re-establish beef

trade.

 

She also praised the progress of the Agriculture

Department's enhanced BSE testing program, which began

last month. As of July 13, Veneman said, more than

17,000 animals had been tested. The goal is to test at

least 268,500 cattle during a 12- to 18-month period —

a goal USDA officials say they are on track to meet.

 

" We've seen great success in the number of animals

we've been able to test since we started this

program, " Veneman said. " But not only are we able to

ramp it up in terms of numbers, but we also can see

we're testing the highest-risk animals. "