| Global update |
Tokyo reexamines
beef trading ban
after panel ruling
BY MARI \AMAGUCHI
THE ASSXIATED PRESS
TOKYO — Japan’s food safety
panel on Monday ruled that relax
ing domestic cattle testing standards
for mad cow disease won’t put
consumers at risk, raising the possi
bility that Tokyo will reopen its lu
crative market to U.S. beef imports.
The Food Safety Commission found
that tests for the fatal bovine illness on
cattle aged 20 months or younger were
unable to detect the proteins linked to
the fatal bovine affliction. Scientists
believe the proteins associated with
mad cow disease do not accumulate in
cows that young.
“We have concluded that the risk of
excluding cows younger than
21 months old from inspections is neg
ligible or extremely small,” Yasuhiro
Yoshikawa, chairman of the panel’s
scientific experts, told reporters.
Still, scientists don’t know enough
about the disease to rule out risk com
pletely, the panel said, which urged
Tokyo to improve testing methods.
Japan banned U.S. beef imports
in December 2003 after the discov
ery of the United States’ first case of
mad cow disease. Washington has
been steadily pushing Tokyo to drop
the ban, but Japanese officials have
insisted that all imported beef come
from animals tested for mad cow
disease, also called bovine spongi
form encephalopathy.
Japan has tested all cattle for mad
cow disease since discovering its first
case in 2001. Japan has found 16 ani
mals with the disease, most recently a
Holstein cow on Sunday.
The issue has caused discord be
tween the two major trading partners,
with some U.S. lawmakers threatening
possible sanctions against Japan if the
ban on beef trade isn’t lifted soon.
During her March 19 visit to
Tokyo, Secretary of State Con
doleezza Rice pressed Japan to end
the costly ban. Before the ban,
Japan was American beef’s most lu
crative overseas market, estimated
at $1.7 billion a year.
Monday’s ruling by Japan’s Food
Safety Commission allows Tokyo to
begin considering whether to lower re
strictions on American beef imports.
The health and agriculture ministries
will now consider revising food safety
standards, which would allow Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s adminis
tration to restart discussions with U.S.
officials about resuming American
beef imports.
Last month, a Japanese government
panel backed a U.S. proposal to
exempt younger cows from testing.
PFC: Email correspondence
contradicts earlier statements
Continued from page 1
disgusting to sit here and hear all
your excuses,” she said.
Sherman said at the meeting that
PFC did not make a promise because
it did not pass a motion. He added,
“the current year’s budget would be
unacceptable.”
While PFC officials previously told
the Emerald the committee agreed
only to work on an amendment, e
mail correspondence between PFC
members obtained by the Emerald in
dicates at least some members prom
ised to form an amendment.
“1 don’t believe I ever promised the
groups an amendment but I do know
others did on the committee,” PFC
Chairwoman Persis Pohowalla wrote
in the March 24 e-mail.
Black Student Union Co-Director
LaTina Lewis, whose group is slated to
lose three of its five paid positions and
a 26.93 percent lower overall budget,
said it was “ridiculous” that groups
must pay for the PFC’s mistake.
“1 just get a sense that you guys
don’t really know much about what
this new process is, but you are tryin
to convince us to go along with it. ”
But PFC member Jael Anker-Lagos
called the pay changes a “learning
process” for everyone involved.
Sherman said groups were notified
and the process was carried out.
Survival Center Co-Director Dinae
Horne , whose group will be cut from
five to three paid positions with a
21.43 overall budget reduction, said
the model will affect her group.
“This is going to prove bad for many
student groupsshe said.
ASUO Vice President Mena Ravas
sipour said she would take the leaders’
feedback into consideration when
working on the ASUO Executive’s
budget recommendation to the Senate.
Some leaders also asked about the
new payment system, which elimi
nates payroll taxes by paying student
group leaders through the Business Af
fairs Office. Some leaders previously
expressed concerns that pay would be
used to pay student account balances
first instead of being paid in cash.
Sherman said the money will be ap
plied to account balances first, but stu
dents may be able to work with ad
ministrators to change that process.
parkerhowell@ daily emerald, com
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