TOKYO, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Japan formally lifted its two-year ban on U.S. and Canadian beef Monday.
However, the Japanese government will allow imports of U.S. and Canadian beef only from cattle 20 months old or younger, and only if safety measures are observed -- including the removal of brains, spinal cords and other specified risk materials that could transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease, Japan Today reported.
The government's Food Safety Commission Thursday submitted a final report to the ministries of agriculture and health, recommending the resumption of imports, saying that the risk of BSE transmission between North American and Japanese beef would be "very small." By Monday, the Japanese government received word that U.S. and Canadian governments accepted Japan's conditions.
Imports of Canadian beef were banned in May 2003, and of U.S. beef in December 2003, following the discovery of cows infected with mad cow disease in both nations. A human version of the brain-wasting disease is thought to be spread by eating contaminated meat.
U.S. and Canadian beef is expected to appear in Japanese shops before the end of the year.
