Japan halts US beef imports

News.com.au ^

[hole_n_one]

Japan halts US beef imports
From correspondents in Tokyo
December 24, 2003

JAPAN has temporarily banned the import of American beef after the US reported its first suspected case of mad cow disease, an official said today.

"We are now withholding the issuance of import permits" on US beef, said Japanese agriculture ministry spokesman Hiroaki Ogura.

"That means for now, (beef) imports have been banned."

He said the measure enacted early this morning was temporary until further information could be gathered.

US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced that a cow from Washington state had tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.

Japan is the number one export market for US beef, accounting for 32 per cent

[Swanks]

One cow and Irresponsible owner will wreck our industry for years.

How would the Rancher know? I thought M-C-D could only be really diagonsed by examining the brain tissue after death.

[torstars]

isn't recalling the meat immediately?

The meat will be recalled and destroyed as soon as it is located. The problem will be the testing of the brains of thousands or millions of cattle for vCJD. There is little reason to expect the "non-ambulatory" Holstein to be an isolated incident.

[Peace will be here soon]

Add South Korea to that list as well. Just announced on MSNBC.

[humblegunner]

Japan halts US beef imports
Cats, dogs & squid hardest hit, Pokemon have no comment.

[torstars]

I believe there is more to this than is being publicized.

This isn't rocket science. Mad cow disease has a long incubation period. There is no reason to think that the source of the infection was not common to other cattle. It will take thousands or millions of negative cattle brains before anyone will import meat from the US.

[denco]

The owner was responsible for the feed going into this cow. On our ranch we are required by our buyers to sign a release stating the feed products that we feed, and the business that we buy our feed from signed us a release on their feed products. In every business there is always someone who will try to cash in, buy the cheep stuff with no quality control, and here we go. Like I said, beef will take a big hit in America but watch out for the fall out. Not to mention banks that have financed the cattle purchased at high prices this fall. This is going to be a big bust to the market. Cattle prices are so high now due to cattle invertories being so low due to the drought. denco

[Mr. Lucky]

The thing that I hate is that I love a good STEAK

The suspect animal was a down dairy cow. No chance that any steak you would ever eat would come from that animal. The carcass was probably sold for rendering rather than human consumption.

[torstars]

Add South Korea to that list as well.

The first bans will be from the Far East because they are awake at this time. By tomorrow, everyone will have a ban on US beef.

[hole_n_one]

TEXT - USDA statement on discovery of mad cow disease

[A. Pole]

How 'bout we embargo all Toyotas the minute one airbag fails to deploy?

How 'bout forbidding feeding cows with the dead animals and telling "free market" to go to hell?

[torstars]

No chance that any steak you would ever eat would come from that animal.

Nonsense. The "muscle cuts" are being traced. The "non-ambulatory" Holstein was slaughtered Dec 9. Moreover, there is no reason to think that other Holsteins (or just about any cattle) were not exposed to the same source.

[Mr. Lucky]

If the article is accurate, it wouldn't appear that the meat was sold for human consumption.

[RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS]

Exactly. They are pissed about US Colby Beef!

[sarasmom]

The upside is... all those restaurants that banned smoking will have to reinstate smoking sections, or die out completely!

Seriously, this is very bad news for the beef industry in this country.I sure hope all those involved took the lessons learned from the UK and applied them.
I have my doubts though, since the cattle industry sued Oprah, and lost.
I am not very impressed with food safety precautions in the USA, since a whole lot of what we eat comes from countries that are outside the scope and regulations of the FDA, anyways.
I pray this is an isolated case, but who will trust anyone in the FDA,CDC or the cattle industry to prove that? How on earth can they?
This is bad news for the whole country.

[Lokibob]

Economists: Limited U.S. Mad Cow Impact
December 23, 2003 7:37:00 PM ET

By Sarah Edmonds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The announcement on Tuesday of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease will have a short-term impact on the economy, economists said, but that impact will remain limited if no further cases are found.

``It's likely to make people a little more reluctant to eat not only steak but burgers and other things,'' said Anthony Chan, an economist at Bank One.

In the short term, that behavior could lead to lower sales at restaurants, Chan said. However, a single case would be unlikely to have a longer-term effect, he said.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced the first U.S. case of the deadly disease, which devastated parts of the European agriculture industry in the 1990s, earlier on Tuesday. It was found in a Holstein cow in Washington state.

The announcement led to an immediate drop in the shares of fast-food companies, and analysts in Chicago predicted beef and grain prices would fall sharply when trading resumes on Wednesday.

Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at LaSalle Bank in Chicago, said the discovery would land hard on the U.S. agricultural sector, particularly the $27 billion cattle industry and beef exports worth more than $3 billion a year.

Hours after the announcement, a South Korean official said South Korea would be likely to halt imports of U.S. beef, the same action it took against Canadian beef earlier this year.

``This is coming at a time when beef prices have been rising quite dramatically and ranchers were just beginning to smile,'' he said, adding that agriculture makes up a small part of broad economic activity.

In Canada, a case of the disease in a single Alberta cow last May devastated the Canadian beef industry as many countries closed their doors to Canadian beef exports.

According to a report by Serecon Management Consultants of Edmonton, Alberta, the disease took a $3.3 billion toll on Canada's cattle sector.

Beef shipments from Canada have since resumed.

Economist Sung Won Sohn of Wells Fargo Bank in Minneapolis said he did not anticipate any widespread economic impact.

``I think it should be quite limited. That is my hope,'' he said. ``U.S. authorities are pretty well placed to impose measures for protection (of the food supply).''

[torstars]

it wouldn't appear that the meat was sold for human consumption

I saw nothing in the article to indicate the meat was not sold for human consumption. In fact the point was made at the news conference that the "muscle cuts" were being processed and vJCD was not transmitted via "muscle cuts", which of course translates to "the meat was processed for human consumption".

[torstars]

but who will trust anyone in the FDA,CDC or the cattle industry to prove that? How on earth can they?

They will have to test thousand or millions of cattle brains and come up with no positives. Mad Cow Disease has a very long incubation period and it will take many negatives to show that the non-ambulatory Holstein was not the tip of a VERY large iceberg.

[Peace will be here soon]

By tomorrow, everyone will have a ban on US beef.

---

It wouldn`t surprise me at all. People get to freaked out over this stuff. Even in the UK, only about 100 people were effected/infected with the disease ( so far ). But they definitely had a problem over there. Here , one cow , well that is nothing to worry about....yet. I would like to hear what they find out about this first before I flip out. So far the info is limited.

[Mr. Lucky]

Have you ever eaten a steak from a mature dairy cow? How do you think a muscle cut from a down Holstein would grade?

[Willie Green]

ping