ponto
January 20th, 2006, 04:44 PM
Just 5 1/2 weeks after lifting its ban on U.S. beef, Japan slammed the door shut again Friday, saying a recent shipment contained material it considered at risk for mad cow disease.
"This is a pity given that imports had just resumed," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters. "I received the agriculture minister's report over the telephone with his recommendation that the imports be halted and I think it is a good idea."
When asked by a reporter if this meant that all imports of U.S. beef would be stopped, Koizumi answered: "Yes."
The Japanese government plans to halt the imports until it receives a report from the U.S. government on how the risky material got into the shipment, an Agriculture Ministry statement said.
The statement said ministry inspectors found material from cattle backbone in three out of 41 boxes in a 389-kilogram shipment of beef from Atlantic Veal & Lamb Inc. All of the beef in the shipment was destroyed, the statement said.
More (http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/japan_mad_cow;_ylt=AjLdWIfVOIk88XhpXNc_CdoDW7oF;_y lu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)
"This is a pity given that imports had just resumed," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters. "I received the agriculture minister's report over the telephone with his recommendation that the imports be halted and I think it is a good idea."
When asked by a reporter if this meant that all imports of U.S. beef would be stopped, Koizumi answered: "Yes."
The Japanese government plans to halt the imports until it receives a report from the U.S. government on how the risky material got into the shipment, an Agriculture Ministry statement said.
The statement said ministry inspectors found material from cattle backbone in three out of 41 boxes in a 389-kilogram shipment of beef from Atlantic Veal & Lamb Inc. All of the beef in the shipment was destroyed, the statement said.
More (http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/japan_mad_cow;_ylt=AjLdWIfVOIk88XhpXNc_CdoDW7oF;_y lu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)