Japan again halts US beef imports

Japan has once again halted US beef imports, but it is unclear how long the ban will last and how much of a fillip it will give to New Zealand beef exports.

Friday's halt of beef exports came just one month after Japan lifted a previous two-year ban and followed the discovery of spinal material in a shipment that it said should have been removed to reduce the risk of mad cow disease.

US officials immediately launched an investigation, ordered extra training for meat inspectors and sent a team of experts to examine shipments detained in Japanese ports.

"This is an unacceptable failure on our part to meet the requirements of our agreement with Japan," Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns told reporters.

The Japanese Agriculture Ministry said the ban would remain until it received more information from the United States.

New Zealand beef exports to Japan surged during the two-year ban on US beef.

Beef exports in 2004 were worth $247 million, double the previous year when there was no ban in place.

The ban's end in December had New Zealand beef exporters concerned that US beef producers would flood the lucrative Japanese market and bring down the recent strong prices.

Ian Corney, the chairman of NZ Meat & Fibre producers, said New Zealand farmers did not like to be seen to be taking advantage of others' misfortunes, "but the reality is, as a market closes for someone, then it opens for someone else".

"In quite a lot of cases New Zealand is in a position to sell to those markets," he said.

US Trade Representative Rob Portman said Japan's action was a suspension, not a formal ban.

"I view it as a temporary setback, giving us time to analyse what happened," he said.

A total of 390kg of beef imported from a New York meatpacker was found to contain parts of a spinal cord when it was inspected at Narita International Airport near Tokyo.

Experts believe humans can contract a fatal type of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, by eating contaminated meat.

Corney said some countries including Japan are increasingly placing bans on meat for only minor reasons.

"They're a good market and sometimes a little bit finicky, but when you see bans getting put on ... for issues that are probably inconsequential, it's quite a worrying trend."

BSE ban
* A case of BSE (mad cow disease) in December 2003 prompted a US beef ban in Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
* Japan lifted its ban in December 2005, but reinstated it last week.
* During the first ban, New Zealand beef exports to Japan were worth $247 million in 2004 - more than double the 2003 figure.

- REUTERS