Japan eases blanket mad cow testing of domestic cattle headed for market

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese food safety officials were to discuss resuming U.S. beef imports Monday as less stringent domestic tests for mad cow disease were set to take effect. Japan's Food Safety Commission recommended in May that the government waive mad cow tests for cattle younger than 21 months, allowing the Health Ministry to revise a law requiring mandatory testing of all domestic cattle headed for market.

The revision takes effect Monday amid increasing pressure for Japan to also extend that decision to imported beef products.

Washington has been urging Japan, formerly is most lucrative market for beef exports, to lift its ban on American beef imposed after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was discovered in December 2003. The United States, which does not conduct blanket testing, has pressed Tokyo to begin imports of beef from younger cows.

The Food Safety Commission headed into a meeting Monday to discuss that issue.

Japan began blanket testing all cattle headed for market after finding its first case of the fatal bovine illness in 2001.

But the safety panel said in its May decision that it was safe to exempt cows younger than 21 months from tests. The experts found that the risk of young animals becoming infected with the brain-wasting disease was negligible.

Japanese consumer groups have demanded the government keep U.S. beef banned to ensure food safety.

Before the ban, Japan was the most lucrative market for American beef, estimated at about $1.5 billion US a year.

© The Canadian Press, 2005