Japan to test one million cattle for BSE

Japan plans to step up its battle against BSE by adopting strict European standards and individually test roughly 1 million cattle across the country, it was reported today.

The countrywide check, to begin next month, will target all cows older than 30 months that are destined for human consumption, according to Kyodo News service, which cited unnamed officials from Japan’s Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry.

The sweeping efforts aim to examine a first batch of roughly 500,000 cattle by March next year, Kyodo said. According to a report in the mass-circulation Asahi newspaper, it will set the government back 3 billion yen (£17.4m).

Ministry officials, who were meeting today to discuss the response to mad cow disease, were unavailable for comment.

The investigations come as Japan scrambles to head off a consumer backlash and reopen beef export markets, such the United States, which quickly barred

Japanese meat imports after a possible BSE case was announced last week.

China, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines have joined the growing list of countries banning Japanese beef.

The move would be modelled on similar measures taken by the European Union in its attempt to counter two massive outbreaks of mad cow disease in Europe.

Under the EU program, which began on January 1, at least 1.75 million tests have been carried out on healthy animals before slaughter.

That program also targeted cattle over 30 months old, because research indicates symptoms of mad cow disease are difficult to detect in younger animals.

BSE is believed to spread by recycling meat and bones from infected animals back into cattle feed. The disease is thought to cause a nervous condition in humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which kills its victims by tearing holes in brain tissue.

Just last week, Japan’s Agriculture Ministry announced that a test on a suspected mad cow from an area outside Tokyo showed evidence of the disease - making it possibly the first case in Asia.

A panel of scientists is still expected to make a final determination, however.

Since then, the ministry has mobilized about 5,800 officials to conduct spot tests at the nation’s 140,000 cattle farms. Today’s measure would step up the inspections so no cows are missed.

Japan has also revised an ordinance banning the use of meat and bone meal in cattle feed.

Under newly proposed penalties, violators will face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 300,000 yen (£1,740). The previous ordinance had no penalties.

Last week’s announcement of a possible mad cow case drew a torrent of inquiries from frightened Japanese consumers, and several local school boards have already stopped using beef in school lunches.

Some 1.3 million cows are processed for meat annually in Japan. Of them, about 1 million are 30 months old or over, reports said.