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Thailand will not restrict U.S. beef imports
Story Date: 5/2/2012
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Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 5/1/12
On Tuesday government and industry officials got some good news: Indications on Monday that Thailand might stop importing U.S. boneless beef from cattle 30 months and younger turned out to be a false alarm.
A USDA spokesman confirmed to Meatingplace that news overnight from Thailand indicated no change in the country’s U.S. beef import policies. U.S. Meat Export Federation spokesman Joe Schuele also confirmed that USMEF officials received the same indications from Thailand’s Department of Livestock Development Tuesday.
“We can confirm that Thailand had not closed the market to U.S. boneless beef from cattle 30 months or under,” a USDA spokesman told Meatingplace by email.
Officials in Thailand and other U.S. beef importing nations had been evaluating the news last week that a 10-year-old dairy cow in California was confirm as infected with an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The cow was never in the food supply, and the discovery does not change the United States’ BSE status as determined by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Major importers such as Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Canada have all confirmed they will continue to import U.S. beef. So far, only Indonesia has announced it would halt shipments.
“The United States remains confident in the safety of U.S. beef and dairy products and USDA will continue to provide relevant information to our public and trading partners as it becomes available. Consequently, this detection should not affect U.S. trade,” another USDA spokesman added.
For more stories, go to http://www.meatingplace.com/.
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