EXCLUSIVE: Japan to Scale Down BSE Checks on Dead Cattle

June 6, 2018

Tokyo- Nine years after the last domestic case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, was confirmed, the Japanese agriculture ministry is planning to relax the obligation to test dead cattle for the disease, Jiji Press has learned.

The ministry is considering narrowing the range of cattle subject to mandatory tests for BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, to those aged 96 months or older from the current 48 months or over, informed sources said.

"Preventive measures are working well, so there'll be no problem if the age limit is loosened," a senior ministry official said.

The ministry will ask a related advisory council at its meeting on Friday to consider the envisioned step, which would cut the number of cattle bound to undergo BSE tests to about one-third of the current level, according to the sources.

The ministry aims to implement the higher age limit in fiscal 2019. The age limit was last revised in April 2015.

The government currently shoulders some 10,000 yen per head in costs for BSE checks.

Meanwhile, the ministry will continue to require BSE tests for every dead cow suspected of BSE.

According to the ministry, there were about 66,000 cattle that died either at the age of 48 months or older, or after showing symptoms suggesting BSE, such as inability to stand, in Japan in fiscal 2017. Jiji Press