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Japan, U.S. hold two-day technical meeting on U.S. beef importsTOKYO (AP)--Japan and the U.S. started a technical meeting Aug. 2 to discuss keeping U.S. beef imports free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy amid Washington's calls for Tokyo to relax its import restrictions. Japan only allows imports of U.S. beef from cattle 20 months old or younger, because BSE has not been detected in meat from young cattle. The two-day, closed meeting of officials will focus on fresh data provided by the U.S. on cattle feed and the surveillance system in the United States upon request from Japan, according to Agriculture Ministry official Toshio Katagai. A briefing on the results is planned for Aug. 3. The meeting was a follow-up for the previous talks held in Tokyo in June. The meeting comes as South Korea effectively suspended U.S. beef imports, saying a recent shipment was found to have contained banned parts. South Korea has asked the United States to explain why a banned vertebral column was found in a recent 18.7 ton shipment and to come up with preventive measures. In May, the World Organization for Animal Health ruled that the United States was a "controlled risk nation"--a country that can export beef from cattle of any age. The U.S. has cited that report in urging Japan to review its policy. Japan banned American beef imports in December 2003 after the first case of BSE was found in the U.S. The ban was eased in December 2005, but tightened again the following month after prohibited spinal bones were found in a veal shipment. Tokyo eased the restrictions again last July, but allowed only meat from cows 20 months old or younger to enter Japan. Japan also bans meat with certain bone or spinal material attached. Date: 8/16/07
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