Enlarge imageBy Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - Shock and worry spread in Japan on Saturday after Tokyo reimposed a ban on U.S. beef imports over mad cow concerns. One leading fast food chain shelved plans to resume serving a popular beef dish and consumers said they felt betrayed.
Japan, the biggest foreign market for American beef, last month lifted a ban on imports imposed in 2003 after a U.S. case of mad cow disease. The ban had become an irritant in otherwise close bilateral ties, prompting strong pressure from Washington.
Tokyo finally lifted the ban under strict conditions, including stipulations that materials believed to carry a higher risk of mad cow disease, such as spinal cord tissue, be removed.
Officials said on Friday, however, that a total of 390 kg (860 lbs) of beef imported from a New York meatpacker had been found to contain spinal material when it was inspected at Tokyo’s Narita airport.
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The announcement raised questions about the initial decision to lift the ban and the overall trustworthiness of U.S. products, topics sure to be high on the agenda when U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick visits Japan from late Saturday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said he would lodge a protest with Zoellick when they meet next week, Kyodo news said, while Foreign Minister Taro Aso was quoted as saying that the management system for beef exports would have to be firmly established before there could be any talk of resuming trade.
Consumers said they were worried.
"I feel a little betrayed," said Takayoshi Sakamoto, 34, who works for a personnel management firm.
"They promised they would check things, but this is what happened," he added. "I can tell you that even when U.S. beef is back on the shelves again, I won’t really want to buy it."
Fast food chain Yoshinoya said it was postponing an eagerly awaited resumption of sales of its signature "gyudon" -- marinated, stewed beef on rice -- planned for mid-February.
"It appears there were large problems with compliance, which we feel is extremely regrettable," a Yoshinoya spokesman said.
"The whole situation is very unfortunate."
AMATEURISH MISTAKE
Hideki Hayashi, a primary school teacher who described himself as a gyudon fan, said he was shocked and disappointed.
"The U.S. wanted imports to resume so badly, but then they make this sort of amateurish mistake," he added, glancing towards a nearby McDonald’s as he spoke in downtown Tokyo.
"That they can’t be more professional has me really worried. I think I’ll eat Australian or New Zealand beef in the future."
The U.S. Embassy said on Saturday that a delegation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture would arrive in Japan on Monday to reassure Japan that the U.S. was taking every possible step to ensure compliance with requirements for export to Japan.
Japan’s retailers and food industry had been slow to respond to the trade resumption announced on December 12, saying they wanted to gauge the response of the nation’s notoriously fastidious consumers, but some had been planning marketing campaigns centred on U.S. beef.
In one Tokyo supermarket, workers rushed to remove banners saying "U.S. Beef Fair", the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
Opposition politicians and media were quick to call the Japanese government to task, saying that it had caved in too quickly to U.S. pressure.
"This was a huge miss on the part of the government," said Yukio Hatoyama, a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Party, in comments carried on Japanese television and echoed by the liberal daily Asahi Shimbun.
"As a result, the food safety of consumers was treated carelessly, raising questions once more about government responsibility," the Asahi said.
Abe, however, defended the government decision.
"Our decision was based on the assumption that the U.S. would decisively carry out testing," he was quoted by Kyodo as saying. "Our decision was not mistaken."
