TOKYO, Dec 24: Asian nations and Russia banned imports of US beef on Wednesday after the first case of mad cow disease was detected in the United States, more than a decade after it appeared in Britain.

Japan, the world’s biggest importer of US beef, announced a temporary ban less than three hours after US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said initial tests had shown that a cow from the northwestern state of Washington may have the deadly brain-wasting disease.

South Korea, the fourth biggest market for US beef, soon followed Japan’s lead, as did Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia and Thailand.

China said it was hoping to make an announcement soon.

Russia also closed its borders to American beef, although only four per cent of its imported beef products come from the United States.

Asia’s reaction put paid to US farmers’ hopes that the export component of their 40-billion-dollar industry would be spared serious fallout despite assurances that humans would not be affected by the latest case.

“We remain confident in the safety of our food supply. The risk to human health is extremely low,” Mr Veneman said when announcing the findings of the test on the Holstein cow. “I plan to serve beef for my Christmas dinner.”

With a sample from the suspect animal already sent to Britain for final confirmation of the disease, other nations decided to wait before taking any decision on suspending US beef imports.

In Brussels, a European Union spokeswoman said the EU had no immediate plans to impose further restrictions on its imports of US beef, many of which are already blocked due to concerns about hormones, but was closely monitoring the situation.

“The United States was classified as an ‘at risk country’ at the time of the United Kingdom crisis and so we’ve had restrictions on the import of certain beef ... for years now,” Antonia Mochan, a spokeswoman for the EU’s executive commission, said.

She also noted that US beef that has been treated with growth-inducing hormones is already banned in the European Union. US beef exports to the EU are therefore not “significant,” she said, adding that “what we import is top-end, high quality stuff.”

Switzerland also said it was not planning to impose further restrictions although only one-tenth of its beef imports, or 300 tons, originate from the United States.

All beef imports into Switzerland are subject to checks and the exclusion of brain or spinal material which might carry the disease, Rolf Frischknecht of the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office explained.

In Ottawa, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency veterinarian Brian Evans said any ban at this stage would be premature. “There will be measures if the (US) case is positive,” he said.

The only previous outbreak of mad cow disease in North America was a single case at a farm in Alberta, Canada, in May.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is so feared because it has been linked to a form of the fatal brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that affects humans.

More than 130 people have died in Britain from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease since 1996, with at least four more fatalities in France.

The first case of BSE appeared in Britain in 1986.

The European beef industry suffered massive losses when mad cow disease broke out there in the 1990s.

Japan’s decision to halt imports was the most significant for the United States, with the world’s second biggest economy accounting for 32 percent of US beef exports in 2002.

“Until we confirm the safety of the products, certain measures are needed,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told reporters here.

Japanese agriculture ministry spokesman Hiroaki Ogura said the ban would remain in place until more information could be obtained.

According to the US Meat Export Federation, the biggest international market for US beef is Japan followed by Mexico, Canada, South Korea and Hong Kong.

In the year to March 2003, Japan imported 240,144 tons of US beef, not including processed food products, Japan’s farm ministry said.

Japan is the only Asian nation to have recorded mad cow disease. It reported its first case in September 2001, and every cow slaughtered for consumption since has been screened for the disease.

In Australia, the world’s largest beef exporter, authorities said the country’s negligible imports from the United States would be suspended and emphasized the safety of its own cattle.

“As the world’s largest producer, there’s obviously no need for imports so there’s no risk to Australian consumers,” a government spokesman said.—AFP