Korea banned all imports of livestock and meat products from Japan following the confirmation of an outbreak of mad cow disease in the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said yesterday.
The measures mean that all imports of Japanese cows, sheep, goats and deer, as well as meat from these animals will be halted outright, ministry officials explained. In addition, Japanese drugs and cosmetics that contain animal compounds must provide an official certificate that clears the product of being contaminated by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, before being allowed into the country, they noted.
The ministry said that it had temporarily halted quarantine inspections for Japanese livestock and meat related products since Sept. 10, and will include Japan on its mad cow disease watch list. Tokyo acknowledged early this month that a Holstein dairy cow at a farm in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, might have contracted the BSE.
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