U.S. Receives Assurance From Japan on Beef ExportsJune 15th, 2005 by Roy Berman |
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The United States Agriculture Department won assurance from the Japanese government on Tuesday that a second potential case of mad cow disease found on American soil would not affect negotiations to resume beef exports to Japan, the top American export market.But critics of the department’s mad cow testing program said the case underscored the need for more intensive testing to determine how prevalent the fatal, brain-wasting disease was in the American herd.
The Agriculture Department said Friday that it had found bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, in an animal that had tested negative last November. It would be the second case of the disease to be found in the United States, and the fifth in North America, since 2003.
On Monday Taiwan, which had resumed imports of American beef two months ago, and South Korea, which had been negotiating to restart them, expressed concern about the new case. Taiwanese officials said that if a final round of testing confirmed the disease that it would cease importing American beef. The news helped sink cattle future prices to their lowest level in 13 months.
But beef prices recovered slightly on Tuesday after Japanese officials said the latest discovery would not derail plans to restart exports to Japan, which imported $1.4 billion worth of American beef in 2003, or 36 percent of all American exports.
Soon people throughout Japan will once again be able to enjoy a nice gyu-don at Yoshinoya, just like here in Taiwan or back home in NYC.
June 16th, 2005 at 3:39 am
I heard the news that there was a person who had already died of mad cow disease
in the country of Asia somewhere.
Not only Yoshinoya but also a general beef dish came not to want to eat since
then.
It is thought that it is difficult to remove fear to the beef that spreads
between Japanese.
However, the attitude might change completely if the beef bowl begins to be sold.
「アジアのどこかの国では狂牛病で死んだ人がいる」というニュースを聞いたことがあります。（ヤコブ病でしたっけ？）
それ以来、吉野家に限らず牛肉を食べたくなくなりました。
日本人の間の牛肉恐怖を取り除くのは難しいと思います。
でも牛丼が再開されたら行列作っちゃうかもしれない。(多分食べに行く)