Asia acts on Japanese BSE

Beef from the affected region is being removed from Japanese shelves

Taiwan has joined Singapore and South Korea in banning imports of beef and beef products from Japan after the discovery of a suspected case of mad cow disease, BSE, near Tokyo.

The Japanese case, discovered in a dairy cow, would if confirmed be the first case of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in Asia.

Japan's beef trade

Exports about 70 tonnes annually

Imports about 740,000 tonnes, mainly from US and Australia

Singapore imports about 10 tonnes of Japanese beef annually, worth $800,000

Taiwan has also banned the import of other cloven-hoofed animals including sheep, pigs and goats from Japan.

Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea buy most of their beef from the United States, Australia and New Zealand with only a small amount coming from Japan.

Singapore's Veterinary Authority said; "Any country found to have BSE will be immediately suspended from exporting to Singapore."

But a Singapore food authority spokesman said beef imported before the discovery of the potential Japanese case would be regarded as safe.

BSE is linked to the fatal brain-wasting condition in humans - variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Warnings

So far, BSE has been largely confined to Europe.

Japan began checking cattle for BSE last month after warnings that the country could be at risk.

Japanese officials say there is little risk of a major outbreak

The cow which has tested positive was on a dairy farm in Chiba prefecture just to the east of Tokyo.

BSE was first detected in the UK in 1986 and is transmitted through meat-and-bone meal fed to cattle.

European countries banned such feed in 1990 but Japan took no action until 1996 when it banned imports of beef and beef products from the UK. This year it extended the ban to other European countries.

Scientists from the European Union concluded this summer that Japan was still at risk because it failed to act quickly enough.

The World Health Organisation and other UN agencies have issued several warnings that BSE could spread to Asia because of the international trade in food.