After lifting the ban on U.S. beef imports, a shipment of U.S. beef has arrived with the backbone, vulnerable to BSE infection. It was found during visual quarantine inspection. The government must be held responsible for this, as it drove forward the resumption of U.S. beef imports last December in defiance of public opposition and anxieties.
Tougher inspections required
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Mike Johanns said that some USDA inspectors "were not aware of the need to remove vertebral column from beef for exports to Japan."
As a condition of resuming U.S. beef imports, the government had required the United States to comply with the "Import Program:" Beef products for Japan should be 20 months of age or below; and risk material, including spinal columns, should be removed from cattle of all ages.
Saying that USDA inspectors were not aware of this precondition becomes a matter that shakes the foundation of the system to ensure safety of U.S. beef.
It is natural for Japan to prohibit beef imports again not only from the place where the risk material was found but also from all over the United States.
The expert panel in the Food Safety Commission had been pointing out that condition of control over U.S. beef processing facilities is uncertain and that effectiveness of removal of high-risk parts from cattle is also doubtful. So, the government should conduct tougher inspections to see if the U.S. side strictly complies with the precondition. This is something that the Food Safety Commission had also been demanding of the government.
The Agricultural and Welfare ministries on January 19 had reported to the expert panel that "removal of high-risk material is appropriately being carried out." It was only the next day, however, that a dangerous part was found in the beef shipment from the United States. This shows that whether to comply with the requirement agreed concerning U.S. beef imports is up to the United States and that the Japanese inspection is very sloppy.
The Japanese government must rigorously inspect all U.S. processing facilities dealing with beef bound for Japan so that the preconditions for resuming imports is secured.
In calling on the Japanese government to relax the Japanese requirements of blanket tests for BSE on all beef cattle, the U.S. government has asserted that removing the high-risk parts is the most important action available to ensure public health. However, the high-risk material detected in U.S. beef one month after Japan resumed its imports shows that the U.S. is not serious in removing the high-risk parts.
A sense of security about beef and its actual safety will be restored to the public only by establishing the two-track system of testing all beef cattle for BSE and removing high-risk material, as is implemented in Japan for domestic beef.
The Japanese government used the report of the food safety commission's prion expert council as the grounds for resuming U.S. beef imports.
On the assumption that certain preconditions such as removal of high-risk parts are observed, the appraisal report concluded that the difference of risk between Japanese and U.S. beef is very small. The government shed light on this part alone to use it as the grounds for resuming imports.
Appraisal should change, when promises are broken
The appraisal report also states that appraisal result may be different, if the preconditions are not observed. The detection of the high-risk parts means that the preconditions are not observed. Therefore, the appraisal result may be different from the one stating that the difference of risk is very small.
The appraisal report also states that data concerning the safety of U.S. beef include many ambiguities, with the conclusion that it is difficult to appraise with scientific equality the BSE risk between Japanese and U.S. beef. This is what many experts in the council really wanted to say. It is necessary to start from scratch discussing the ways to secure the safety of U.S. beef.
