EU urges Japan to drop beef block

Seeking a wider market: A farmer of Charolais cows posing among cows in Western France. — AFP

Tokyo: The EU’s top agriculture official urged Japan to open up its market for beef from the whole bloc, saying Europe expected “reciprocity” for importing Japan’s famous Wagyu and Kobe beef.

Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan told reporters that “only a small number of countries” in the EU had gained access to the Japanese market for beef products despite BSE – commonly called mad cow disease – having been eliminated since 2005.