U.S. sounds out Japan to consider importing beef from cloned cows

Saturday 10th May, 03:50 AM JST

TOKYO —

The United States has unofficially sounded out Japan about considering importing beef and processed food and dairy products from somatic cell-cloned cows and their offspring in the future, sources involved in Japanese-U.S. relations said Friday. On April 1, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare asked the Food Safety Commission to evaluate the safety of cows and pigs cloned from somatic cells. The United States began filing the request in mid-January, the sources said.

Japan and the United States both have self-imposed controls on the sale and shipment of food products from cloned livestock. If the United States lifts its ban on distribution of such products to the market, it is likely that Washington will increase requests that Japan import them. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said in January that meat and milk from cloned animals are as safe for human consumption as products from conventionally bred animals.

7 Comments

franz75 at 12:47 PM JST - 10th May

No no no no. We will have a new catastrophic food problem in the future and it will be nobody's responsability. Cloning livestock is unnecessary.
Farmboy at 02:00 PM JST - 10th May

"On April 1, the Ministry of Health..." Let's hope this was an April Fool's Day joke. This brings to mind images of unformed beef parts growing in vats... Does the meat industry just want to make vegetarians out of everyone?
cleo at 07:56 PM JST - 10th May

What are the advantages of cloning livestock, anyway, that makes the industry want to push it so much? Isn't good old fashioned artificial insemination a lot cheaper and simpler?

What's the benefit of pushing onto the market something that's 'just the same' as what's already there, only more expensive?

Does the meat industry just want to make vegetarians out of everyone?

Oh, yes please.

:-)
smithinjapan at 10:56 PM JST - 10th May

Guess they want some guinea pigs aside from their own population. The FDA has been pushing for cloned products to go on the market like it's going out of style, when no significant or long term testing has been done, and when it's been proven many of the cloned animals are so damned sick it's baffling they'd ever try it again (and if that's brought to light by farmers they are shut down and shunned).
soothsayer at 12:29 AM JST - 11th May

U.S. sounds out Japan to consider importing beef from cloned cows

U.S Official: You'd just loooove cloned meat, I know! J. Official: No thanks. Not even without spines. U.S. Official: So, I can put you down for 2000 tons then. J. Official: Eto...
amerijap at 03:54 AM JST - 11th May

It's gonna be an ethical issue to utilize a cloned live-stock for practical use. Personally I don't want to get any idea of this, because we're not given any information about the scientifically produced animals. Was it approved by the FDA? I haven't heard anything yet.
Hughgarse at 11:12 AM JST - 12th May

Are they being stupid on purpose here??

After their current meat debarcle with Japan, and still continuing to make cock-ups with including spines in meat sold to Japan, why on earth would they think they`d take cloned cows off them.. truely muppets!