(JP)Import, making of MBM to be outlawed /Deer (meat) import also banned

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20011005a4.htm

 

MAD COW REACTION

Import, making of MBM to be outlawed

 

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has decided to

outlaw the importation and domestic production of

meat-and-bone meal, which is suspected of transmitting

mad cow disease, ministry sources said Thursday.

 

The move will involve revising a ministry ordinance

and will strengthen government clampdowns on the feed,

which at present is controlled via " administrative

guidance, " which has no legal basis.

 

The same day, the ministry imposed a temporary ban on

the domestic production, importation and distribution

of MBM, and moved up the start date of an

investigation into mad cow disease to Oct. 18.

 

The sources said the decision to outlaw the feed was

made because a ban, it was felt, would not be

sufficient to restore consumer confidence in beef and

beef products.

 

According to the ministry, some 400,000 tons of MBM is

produced in Japan annually to be used for feeding pigs

and chickens, as well as for fertilizer. Although the

use of MBM as cow feed is illegal, it has been

discovered that farms in 20 prefectures and Hokkaido

had been skirting this ban.

 

The ministry has instructed prefectural and other

local governments nationwide to gear up for cattle

testing. About 1 million cows bred for meat and aged

30 months or older will be examined earlier than

initially planned in an bid to dispel consumer anxiety

that arose after Asia's first case of the disease was

confirmed last month. , officials said. Local

governments are being asked to stagger their schedules

to prevent beef producers from testing their cows all

at the same time. It is also asking them to report on

how the tests are conducted and whether dangerous

parts, such as the brain and spinal cord, are being

disposed of properly.

 

Beef producers have refrained from slaughtering cows

aged 30 months or older because the health ministry is

preparing to use a new inspection system requested by

the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.

 

Testing will be conducted at 117 meat inspection

stations nationwide.

 

If a cow tests positive for the disease, formally

known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, it will

undergo further inspection at other facilities,

including Obihiro University of Agriculture and

Veterinary Medicine. A health ministry task force will

then confirm whether the cow is infected, the

officials said. The government set up a panel

Wednesday to discuss how to handle meat-and-bone meal.

 

 

Formed jointly by the Agriculture, Forestry and

Fisheries Ministry and the health ministry, the panel

will hold its first meeting today.

 

The panel's 26 members include consumers, academics,

dairy farmers and representatives from meat and MBM

industries, the officials said.

 

 

Deer imports banned

 

Japan has banned imports of deer meat and live deer

from the United States and Canada as chronic wasting

disease, an animal illness with symptoms similar to

mad cow disease, is spreading among wild deer in the

U.S., the government said Wednesday.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said

it will ask local governments to conduct on-site

inspections at farms that have raised deer imported

from the U.S. and Canada for signs of CWD.

 

According to the ministry, Japan imported live deer

from the U.S. until 1998 and from Canada until 1991,

but no deer have been imported since then.

 

The Japan Times: Oct. 5, 2001

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