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Japan declares US beef safe to consume

Japan's food commission declared beef from young American cattle safe yesterday, paving the way for the government to ease a two-year import ban and resolve a bitter trade tiff with its top ally.

The Food Safety Commission voted unanimously to send the report to the health and agriculture ministries, which will study it and make a final recommendation to the government. Media reports say the ban could be eased as soon as next Monday.

A resumption of imports -- to be limited to meat from cows younger than 21 months -- would defuse a dispute that has nagged the two allies since Japan closed its doors to American beef in December 2003 after the first US case of mad cow disease.

Commission members, however, said that the safety of American beef would depend on US inspectors following strict guidelines, such as removing dangerous cow material such as brains and spinal cords from the meat.

"Much of it is dependent on a promise between two countries," Commission Chairman Masaaki Terada said.

The report also found beef from younger Canadian cows safe.

Both the Asahi and Nikkei newspapers said on Wednesday that US beef could reach Japanese consumers before the year's end if the ban is speedily removed.

Prior to the ban, Japan was the most lucrative overseas market for US beef, buying US$1.4 billion worth in 2003. Cheap, tasty US beef had been popular in low-cost beef-and-rice restaurants.

The food commission's deliberations have been painstaking. After a commission internal panel concluded that US beef from younger cows posed no significant danger, the commission held a series of public meetings on the report.

Yasuhiro Yoshikawa, head of a commission panel working on the mad-cow issue, said that more than 50 percent of the comments collected in the hearings were against resumption of imports. Still, he defended the commission's findings.

"The issues raised in the public hearings were all adequately debated within the prion research committee," he said. "I believe that as specialists, we took enough time to analyze these issues."

The move comes after a series of US officials -- including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- expressed growing impatience with the slow progress resolving the dispute. The issue came up when President George W. Bush visited Japan last month.

A group of 21 US senators introduced legislation on Oct. 26 that would force Bush to impose tariffs on Japan if it does not lift the ban.

But even if the ban is eased, it is uncertain when finicky Japanese consumers will be ready to dig into US steaks.

A survey this week by Kyodo News agency showed some 75 percent of respondents said they would be unwilling to eat US beef because of mad-cow fears, compared to 21.2 percent who said they would consume it.

Eating beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can cause a fatal brain disorder in humans.
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