JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia has suspended some U.S. beef imports after a case of mad cow disease was found in California, breaking ranks with other nations that have maintained trade since the discovery.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and seek information from the U.S. authorities,” Agriculture Minister Suswono said Thursday. The ban covers meat bone-meal, innards, boned meat and gelatin derived from bones, according to Syukur Iwantoro, director general of animal husbandry at the ministry.
The first U.S. case in six years was found in a dairy cow, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week, prompting nations worldwide to review import procedures. Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea — the four biggest buyers — said they won’t halt purchases. Indonesia was expected to reopen its market, according to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
“We would expect that Indonesia will quickly reopen its market,” Kirk said Thursday in Singapore, noting that there is no evidence any contaminated product has entered the U.S. or any international food chain.
Live cattle for June delivery held gains after Indonesia’s announcement, trading 0.2 percent higher at $1.1255 a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange at 5:27 p.m. in Singapore. The price lost 2.6 percent Tuesday as the USDA disclosed the disease discovery, before rebounding 0.6 percent Wednesday.
Indonesia imported 5,265 metric tons of U.S. beef last year, according to data from the U.S. Meat Export Federation. That compares with imports of 176,357 tons by Canada, and 138,914 tons taken by Japan. Indonesian purchases represented 0.6 percent of the global total, according to Bloomberg calculations based the group’s data.
“I’m not worried as the U.S only accounts for about 20 percent of our beef imports,” Thomas Sembiring, executive director of the Indonesian Meat Importers Association, said by phone. Australia and New Zealand both accounted for about 40 percent of purchases, he said.
“We have no timeframe for how long we have to halt the imports,” said the minister, who uses only a single name. Shipments that left the U.S. before Tuesday still will be allowed to enter Indonesia, Suswono said.
South Korea hadn’t imposed a ban on imports as it saw “no problem” with the safety of the imported beef, given the disease was found in a dairy cow more than 30 months old, Agricultural Minister Suh Kyu Yong said Thursday. The country will strengthen quarantine inspections of U.S. shipments, Suh said.
