U.S. BEEF HAS MAD COW. Bush Admin. lied to U.S. & Japan [View All]

[Sarah Ibarruri]

I am so sick of this evil administration. They've been not testing our food supply beef and now it's come out that the beef supply has mad cow after all. How many more lies will this administration tell us?


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.

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

"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.






TOKYO (AP) - Japanese stores ditched American beef products Saturday amid renewed mad cow fears and officials demanded an explanation after a contaminated meat shipment prompted Japan to restore a U.S. beef import ban.

Japan announced late Friday it was halting all American beef imports after inspectors found cattle backbone material in a beef shipment from Atlantic Veal & Lamb Inc., just weeks after Tokyo lifted its two-year ban on U.S. beef.

Japanese officials reacted angrily.

"The impermissible has happened," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Saturday in Shimonoseki, southern Japan.

"Japan will certainly not resume imports until investigations into the matter are complete," Abe said, adding he would lodge a protest with Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick at a meeting on Monday.

Zoellick was scheduled to arrive in Japan Saturday to discuss a range of political and economic issues with senior Japanese officials.

Abe's comments came as the U.S. announced it would dispatch a delegation of agricultural officials to Japan in an attempt to salvage what was once the most lucrative market for U.S. beef.

The delegation, sent at the request of Agriculture Secretary

Mike Johanns, would "assure the Japanese government and public that the U.S. is taking every necessary step to ensure compliance with requirements for exporting beef to Japan," according to a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

But Japanese businesses reacted quickly to the debacle.

Yoshinoya D&C Co., which runs a popular beef-rice restaurant chain, announced Saturday it has postponed plans to reintroduce U.S. beef at its 1,016 eateries, citing "grave problems with U.S. compliance standards."

Major deli chain Rock Field Co., Ltd. said it was pulling all U.S. beef products from its stores until consumer confidence is restored. The chain, based in Kobe, western Japan, had only reintroduced U.S. beef earlier this week, spokesman Masao Takehara said.

"With all this negative publicity, consumers might not trust U.S. beef for a while," even if imports are resumed, he said, adding that the firm will rely for now on Australian beef.

Japan imposed a blanket ban on imports in December 2003 after mad cow disease was detected in an American cow. The ban was lifted Dec. 12, but only for meat from animals aged 20 months or younger, as younger animals are believed unlikely to carry the disease.

The deal also excluded the import of spines, brains, bone marrow and other cattle parts thought to pose a particularly high mad cow risk.

Johanns on Saturday called the contaminated shipment "an unacceptable failure," saying he has ordered unannounced checks at U.S. meat processing plants.

But a national consumer organization called into question the reliability of U.S. facilities.

"Measures taken against (mad cow) in America are still insufficient," the Shodanren said in a statement Saturday, echoing an editorial in the Asahi Shimbun, a national daily newspaper.

"Our fears have come true," the Asahi said in its morning edition. "To regain our trust, the U.S. must fundamentally review its safety standards."

Critics also attacked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his government for resuming imports too hastily.

"The government bowed to U.S. pressure and put

President Bush's wishes ahead of the safety of Japanese consumers. I consider that a huge error of judgment," said Yukio Hatoyama, secretary-general of the main opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan, on Saturday.



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