TOKYO (AP) The mad cow disease scare in the United States spread quickly to Asia, where nations including top U.S. markets Japan and South Korea blocked the import of American beef products after a cow in Washington state tested positive for the illness.
Japan, the number one importer of U.S. beef, imposed an indefinite ban and planned to recall certain meat products already on the market, while South Korea halted customs inspections of U.S. beef and suspended sales for meat already on supermarket shelves.
Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia followed suit.
In Brussels, the European Union, which already bans much U.S. beef because of fears about growth hormones, said it would not take any additional measures against U.S. beef.
We are not at this stage planning anything here as a result of todays announcement, Antonia Mochan, a spokeswoman at the EUs executive Commission, said Wednesday.
She noted that the United States was already classified as an at-risk country as part of the sweeping EU measures adopted following Britains mad cow crisis, which began in the late 1980s and spread across western Europe. Under those restrictions, imports of specific risk products, such as brains, are banned.
The moves came after the U.S. government announced that a Holstein cow on a Washington state farm tested positive for mad cow disease, marking the diseases first suspected appearance in the United States.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the risk to human health in this U.S. case was extremely low. Parts of the cow that would be infected the brain, the spinal cord and the lower part of the small intestine were removed before the animal went to a meat processing plant.
The immediate reaction also reflected the widespread consumption of U.S. beef in Asia, where American eating habits have gained tremendous popularity in recent decade.
Australia a major beef exporter that stands to gain economically from a ban on U.S. imports placed a temporary hold on American beef.