Japan to Lift French Beef Block
FRANCE – Senior government ministers have welcomed news that Japan will lift beef age limits to include cattle under 31 months of age, the Council of Food Safety and Pharmaceutical Affairs Ministry of Health confirmed this week.
30 January 2013
1 minute read
This comes after the 2001 BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) crisis which lead to an EU wide blanket ban on beef. Japanese approval has also been given to the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.
Japanese and French authorities have cooperated to allow sufficient technical industry information to be analysed. Risk analysis was conducted to the satisfaction of the Japanese government.
Agreement has been reached on the conditions for the production and export of French beef. The Export Health Certificate Protocol Verification will license exports from 1 February 2013 and which Ministers have said shows a strong commitment to food quality and safety which the two nations share.
The government has added that recent Japanese approval has boosted strategies looking to impact on food exports to the broader Asian region.
TheCattleSite News Desk
