WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States will scale down its nationwide testing program for mad cow disease to about one-tenth from as early as late August, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced Thursday.
The move comes at a time when Japanese government inspectors are set to conclude this weekend their monthlong safeguard audits of all U.S. meat-processing plants planning to export beef to Japan.
Japan continues to blanket test all slaughtered cattle to safeguard human consumption against the disease, medically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.