Farm minister Yoshiyuki Kamei said Tuesday that discovery of a suspected second case of mad cow disease in the United States could affect ongoing beef trade talks between the two countries, suggesting Japan might delay resuming imports of U.S. beef.
"Still verifying . . . but I can't say there are no effects" on the import resumption negotiations, Kamei told a news conference. Tokyo is still waiting to hear from the United States about whether the cow has actually been infected, he said.
Kamei said Japan will ask the United States to provide more details about the case, including when the cow was born and where it was raised.