001264 Japan Bans European Beef Imports

Tokyo - Japan announced Monday that it was banning the import of beef and related products from the European Union as a precaution against mad cow disease.

The ban will take effect on Jan. 1 and apply to beef and food made from processed beef and bull sperm, which is used for breeding, the Agriculture Ministry said, adding that it had notified its European trade partners.

The action follows a recommendation to the government by a panel of experts last week and will affect products from the 15 EU member nations, as well as from Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The EU has been trying to stem the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, also known as mad cow disease, after new cases were uncovered in France and Germany earlier this year. The brain-wasting disease is thought to spread to humans as the equally fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Amid heightened concern over the disease, Japan has gradually tightened restrictions on animal-related products from abroad, recently outlawing the import of animal feed made from European cow bones and beef. That measure begins Jan. 1.

Traditionally a fish-eating nation, Japan has developed a strong affinity for beef over the past few decades.

Last year it imported some 642 tons of beef from European Union nations, along with nearly 1,500 tons of internal cow organs and over seven gallons of frozen sperm used for artificial insemination.

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