Enlarge imageBy Chikafumi Hodo and Christopher Doering
TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan halted imports of U.S. beef on Friday, one month after lifting a ban, following the discovery of spinal material in a shipment that it said should have been removed to reduce the risk of mad cow disease.
U.S. officials immediately launched an investigation, ordered extra training for meat inspectors and sent a team of experts to examine shipments detained in Japanese ports.
"This is an unacceptable failure on our part to meet the requirements of our agreement with Japan," Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns told reporters.
The Japanese Agriculture Ministry said the ban would remain until it receives more information from the United States.
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said that Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa wanted the United States to act firmly. "Preserving food safety and security for the people is extremely important," Koizumi said.
U.S. cattle futures fell on the news. The February live cattle contract at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange settled 0.350 cent per pound lower at 95.775 cents, after falling as low at 94.800 cents earlier on Friday.
Japan, the biggest foreign market for U.S. beef, first banned American beef after a case of mad cow disease in December 2003, halting annual trade of $1.4 billion. The two-year ban became an irritant in otherwise close and friendly U.S.-Japan relations.
The latest incident, which also comes as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick is due to visit Japan on Sunday and Monday, could alarm Japanese consumers as well as raise questions about Tokyo’s decision to lift the ban.
"It is regrettable that the United States has failed to abide by the agreement," a farm ministry official said, referring to a 2004 pact to resume beef trade. "Any decision (to resume imports) would be after we receive information from the U.S. government," he said.
A total of 390 kg (860 lb) of beef imported from a New York meatpacker was found to contain parts of a spinal cord when it was inspected at Narita International Airport near Tokyo.
Experts believe humans can contract a fatal type of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, by eating contaminated meat.
U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said Japan’s action was a suspension, not a formal ban. "I view it as a temporary setback, giving us time to analyse what happened," he said.
Japan imports only U.S. beef from cattle aged 20 months or younger. It requires all animal material linked to mad cow, including the spinal cord, to be totally removed.
U.S. officials acknowledged that the shipment of veal contained parts of a backbone from a calf under six months old, and said such product is allowed in the U.S. market.
"We don’t believe a risk exists. This is not a food safety issue. This is an issue of failing to meet the terms of an agreement," a USDA spokeswoman said. "Under U.S. regulations, the backbone is not a specified risk material. This is a safe product and meets U.S. regulations and the regulations of many of our trading partners."
A team of USDA meat inspectors will re-examine all U.S. beef now awaiting entry "to confirm compliance" with the export requirements, Johanns said. Two USDA inspectors instead of one will now be required to review every export shipment of beef.
Small quantities of beef from the United States have started to enter Japan, but consumers remain worried that safeguards there are not up to Japanese standards.
"Japanese consumers are important to us. They are a key to our success," said Jay Truitt of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
Meanwhile, the American Meat Institute, a trade group, said it would continue to press Japan to open its market further and allow shipments of beef from cattle up to 30 months old. The suspension "is not going to change at all our recommendation to the government of Japan," said Patrick Boyle, head of the AMI.
(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg and Miho Yoshikawa in Japan and Charles Abbott in Washington)
