An advisory panel of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will start reviewing Japan’s system to prevent beef contaminated with mad cow disease from entering the human food chain. The panel will consider whether the nation’s guidelines for testing cattle for the disease, which are arguably the strictest in the world, and its restrictions on beef imports based on the guidelines are reasonable.

The government decided on the review in response to requests from major beef exporters. The United States has been urging Japan to ease its restrictions on imports of American beef, while France has also called on Tokyo to drop its ban on French beef imports. But the government should have voluntarily re-examined the current measures from the viewpoint of whether they are really effective for ensuring food safety.

Ten years have passed since Japan’s first case of the disease, also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was discovered. It is clearly time to re-evaluate the nation’s anti-BSE system for necessary changes based on new data and track records.

Since other countries imposed import restrictions on Japanese agricultural products following the nuclear accident, the Japanese government has been urging these countries to make scientifically sound responses to the situation.

To reinforce this argument, Japan’s anti-BSE measures must be based solidly on sound science.

— The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, Oct. 25

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