According to Commissioners Vytenis Andriukaitis, Cecilia Malmström and Phil Hogan, responsible respectively for food safety, trade and agriculture, "the fact that Japan continues to approve beef exports from EU Member States is a great success of the European trade diplomacy. All Commission services, together with the EU Delegation to Japan, have been working towards an opening of the Japanese market for EU beef and beef products from all EU countries interested in exports. We look forward to seeing Japan opening its market to beef from the rest of the EU in the near future." Japan introduced an import ban on beef from the EU in 2001, referring to an alleged risk of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.
This measure went beyond the international standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health, and did not take into account the EU's stringent control and surveillance measures guaranteeing the safety of European beef and beef products.
The full Statement can be found on the websites of DG Health and Food Safety, DG Agriculture and Rural Development, and DG Trade.
