Japan-US Talks Conclude
BSE
Japanese Team Report Boosts Hope For Agreement
The visiting Japanese team issued a statement summarizing the three days of technical discussions which ended on Wednesday (June 30). The statement said that the U.S. team had pointed out that 100-percent testing is neither a perfect solution or one adopted by other countries — such as Britain, the country with by far the most cases of BSE. The Japanese acknowledged that testing does not detect BSE in very young cattle.
The Japanese statement also recognized that the U.S. removed specific risk materials (SRM) and ensured they were neither allowed in the domestic food chain or exported, and that the U.S. industry’s SRM removal meets Japanese requirements.
The three days of beef trade talks will be followed by another scheduled meeting, July 21-22, after which it is hoped the ensuing report will reach a final conclusion that will allow the resumption of beef exports to Japan. The current report from the Japanese team inspires hopes that a compromise will be worked out based on limited, less than 100-percent testing and the removal of SRMs.
Removing specific risk material (SRM) — skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, vertebral column, tonsils, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia of cattle over 30 months of age and the distal ilium of the small intestine of cattle of all ages — from the food supply is the most important part of the U.S. BSE response program, since infectious agents are not found in muscle tissue or non-SRM organs.
U.S.-Japan Technical Team Talks End Successfully
Technical discussions ended successfully Wednesday afternoon in Fort Collins, Colo., after three full days. Following is a statement issued late Wednesday (June 30) by Dr. Peter Fernandez, APHIS, on behalf of the U.S. BSE Technical Working Group:
"The U.S./Japan Technical BSE Working Group today concluded its second of three meetings with the objective of establishing a thorough review of the available information on BSE.
"The three days of discussions and tours, held in Fort Collins, Colo., provided the team members with the opportunity to have an in-depth dialogue on several key issues, including:
--The definition of BSE and methods of testing;
--The definition of Specified Risk Materials (SRMs) and methods for removal; --The appropriate level and focus of surveillance; --Risk assessment; and --Feed ban implementation, among others.
"Our tours of a slaughter facility, feed lot and feed mill were important opportunities for the Japanese members of the working group to witness the implementation of U.S. BSE safeguards, our rigorous enforcement of these safeguards and the compliance by industry.
"We also informed the Japanese of the status of the two inconclusive BSE test results we have received as part of our enhanced BSE surveillance program. We shared with them the USDA statement announcing that the inconclusive screening test sample reported on June 25 tested negative for BSE at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa upon confirmatory testing. Neither of these animals entered the human food chain, nor animal feed chain and we have assured the Japanese that we will keep them fully informed of any further developments of our ongoing investigation of the second inconclusive test.
"The meetings were successful in advancing our mutual understanding of each countries' measures, their purpose and effectiveness. We look forward to our meeting in Japan next month where we will finalize our technical report that will serve as the basis for the discussions between our governments to establish the terms by which beef trade will resume."
REPEATING From June 30
USDA Announces First Inconclusive Test Proves Negative
APHIS Deputy Administrator Dr. John Clifford announced today (June 30) that the animal in last Friday’s inconclusive BSE rapid test has since proven not to be suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Dr. Clifford made the following statement:
"At approximately, 3:45 p.m. today, we were notified by the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa that the inconclusive screening test sample reported on June 25, tested negative for BSE upon confirmatory testing.
"NVSL used the world-recognized gold-standard test for BSE, the immunohistochemistry test to confirm this finding."
BSE
Japanese Team Report Boosts Hope For Agreement
The visiting Japanese team issued a statement summarizing the three days of technical discussions which ended on Wednesday (June 30). The statement said that the U.S. team had pointed out that 100-percent testing is neither a perfect solution or one adopted by other countries — such as Britain, the country with by far the most cases of BSE. The Japanese acknowledged that testing does not detect BSE in very young cattle.
The Japanese statement also recognized that the U.S. removed specific risk materials (SRM) and ensured they were neither allowed in the domestic food chain or exported, and that the U.S. industry’s SRM removal meets Japanese requirements.
The three days of beef trade talks will be followed by another scheduled meeting, July 21-22, after which it is hoped the ensuing report will reach a final conclusion that will allow the resumption of beef exports to Japan. The current report from the Japanese team inspires hopes that a compromise will be worked out based on limited, less than 100-percent testing and the removal of SRMs.
Removing specific risk material (SRM) — skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, vertebral column, tonsils, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia of cattle over 30 months of age and the distal ilium of the small intestine of cattle of all ages — from the food supply is the most important part of the U.S. BSE response program, since infectious agents are not found in muscle tissue or non-SRM organs.
U.S.-Japan Technical Team Talks End Successfully
Technical discussions ended successfully Wednesday afternoon in Fort Collins, Colo., after three full days. Following is a statement issued late Wednesday (June 30) by Dr. Peter Fernandez, APHIS, on behalf of the U.S. BSE Technical Working Group:
"The U.S./Japan Technical BSE Working Group today concluded its second of three meetings with the objective of establishing a thorough review of the available information on BSE.
"The three days of discussions and tours, held in Fort Collins, Colo., provided the team members with the opportunity to have an in-depth dialogue on several key issues, including:
--The definition of BSE and methods of testing;
--The definition of Specified Risk Materials (SRMs) and methods for removal; --The appropriate level and focus of surveillance; --Risk assessment; and --Feed ban implementation, among others.
"Our tours of a slaughter facility, feed lot and feed mill were important opportunities for the Japanese members of the working group to witness the implementation of U.S. BSE safeguards, our rigorous enforcement of these safeguards and the compliance by industry.
"We also informed the Japanese of the status of the two inconclusive BSE test results we have received as part of our enhanced BSE surveillance program. We shared with them the USDA statement announcing that the inconclusive screening test sample reported on June 25 tested negative for BSE at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa upon confirmatory testing. Neither of these animals entered the human food chain, nor animal feed chain and we have assured the Japanese that we will keep them fully informed of any further developments of our ongoing investigation of the second inconclusive test.
"The meetings were successful in advancing our mutual understanding of each countries' measures, their purpose and effectiveness. We look forward to our meeting in Japan next month where we will finalize our technical report that will serve as the basis for the discussions between our governments to establish the terms by which beef trade will resume."
REPEATING From June 30
USDA Announces First Inconclusive Test Proves Negative
APHIS Deputy Administrator Dr. John Clifford announced today (June 30) that the animal in last Friday’s inconclusive BSE rapid test has since proven not to be suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Dr. Clifford made the following statement:
"At approximately, 3:45 p.m. today, we were notified by the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa that the inconclusive screening test sample reported on June 25, tested negative for BSE upon confirmatory testing.
"NVSL used the world-recognized gold-standard test for BSE, the immunohistochemistry test to confirm this finding."