Lucas Statement on Resuming Japanese Beef Exports

LUCAS STATEMENT ON RESUMING JAPANESE BEEF EXPORTS
April 6, 2005

Washington, D.C.- U.S. Third District Congressman Frank Lucas made the following statement following his meeting today with Japanese Ambassador Ryozo Kato regarding Japan's restriction of beef imports from the United States under the pretense of a threat of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. Lucas and other Members of Congress met with the ambassador to encourage Japan to use scientific methods to determine that U.S. beef is safe from BSE, and to resume imports of U.S. beef:

"This issue just becomes more and more frustrating for me and for our U.S. beef producers. We have shown the Japanese government that no threat of BSE exists, and yet they continue to prevent our beef producers from providing our beef to Japanese consumers. They are causing our producers to lose an important market share with no logical explanation for their ban.

"What is particularly troublesome is the ambassador's admission that government officials are using public polling data to determine how extensive their testing procedures for BSE should be. I'm sorry, but food safety should be determined by the best scientific testing possible, not by the latest poll numbers.

"The safety measures in place for U.S. beef are scientifically sound. U.S. beef is safe for my dinner table, and it's safe for dinner tables around the globe. I've made that clear to the ambassador, and I'm hopeful that he will send that message to Tokyo."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ok03_lucas/japanbeef.html