February 13, 2004 Japan Economic Newswire

Peter Fernandez, associate administrator of the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, told a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo that there is no logical justification for testing all cattle upon slaughter to see if they are infected with the disease.

Although Japan has been conducting testing on all cattle since Oct. 18, 2001, one month after the discovery of Japan's first case of a cow with the disease, the testing is an emergency measure to restore consumers' confidence in the safety of beef, he said.

He said the United States will make a judgment from a scientific standpoint on whether testing all cattle is necessary to detect cases of the disease, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

On Dec. 23, the department announced the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S. The announcement has since prompted Japan, South Korea, Mexico and other nations to ban imports of U.S. beef.

Fernandez defended the department's decision to give up tracking thousands of cattle at a farm in the state of Washington, where the case of mad cow disease was found, citing the limited scope of human and other resources in the department.

The timing of a planned visit by a high-ranking U.S. Agriculture Department official to discuss the terms for a proposed resumption of U.S. beef imports into Japan is still under consideration, he said.