CLARKE. announced temporary ban on US beef

Locals preparing for Christmas dinner still stocked up on beef yesterday as Jamaica joined the long list of countries that have temporarily banned the importation of US beef after Tuesday's discovery that a single cow in Washington state had tested positive for made cow disease.

"We have put a temporary ban on the beef," Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke told the Observer yesterday. "We have to be pre-emptive in doing something... especially with those kinds of exotic diseases."

The ban, he said, will remain in place until US beef is deemed safe.

"This is not any cause for alarm," the minister said. "We are going to watch how this unfolds."

The US has sent samples to Britain for testing, where the Mad Cow Disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was first identified in 1986. It is thought to be the cause of the fatal brain-wasting human illness variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which scientists believe is developed by eating infected beef products.

Yesterday, local supermarkets either stressed that they sold local beef or said there had been no noticable fall-off in sales.

"It has not affected the beef sales," explained Adrian Lyn, manager at SuperPlus Liguanea. "People are concerned about imported meat and we only sell local beef, so they have nothing to fear."

Tropical Family Supermarket in Tropical Plaza also said its sales were not affected by the reports.

"We sold a fair amount of beef," said owner, Vishu Tola. "It did not affect us."

While the US moves to determine the scope of its mad cow disease problem, the list of countries that have banned its beef gets longer.

US beef cannot now be legally imported into Japan, South Korea and Mexico its the three biggest foreign markets. It has also been banned in Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, and Hong Kong.

In some sections of Japan, store owners yesterday removed US beef from shelves and the health minister recalled items that contain the brain and spinal cords of US-raised cows.
But according to minister Clarke, US beef already in the island will not be withdrawn from the shelves.

With the US supplying almost 100 per cent of the beef used in the island's tourist sector, the agriculture minister said he plans to meet with tourism officials to discuss the effects of the ban.

In an early reaction, Godfrey Dyer, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, said local hotels should have enough meat in stock but predicted problems if the ban lasts for more than three weeks.

"There should not be a shortage (immediately)," he said. "We should have ample meat to last for the holidays. If any shortage should come it would be after the next three weeks."

President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, Senator Norman Grant, said the ban may translate into increased sales for local beef farmers who have long complained that imported meat has pushed their products off the shelves.

But this hoped-for windfall for local beef producers appeared an unlikely scenario.

According to Dyer, local farmers are unable to provide certain cuts of beef required and hoteliers might be forced to find alternate sources of imported beef if the ban on American beef is prolonged.

Cases of mad cow disease have been reported in many other countries, from Europe to Asia, prompting massive destruction of herds and devastating the European beef industry.

Experts believe the cattle disease was spread through exports of infected animals and meat products. So far 153 people, mostly in Britain, have died from the human form of mad cow disease.

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