. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/JPN/66
20 April 2001
(01-2002)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  JAPAN
If applicable, name of local government involved:           
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where
applicable).  Sheep and goats, sheep/goats meat, viscera derived from sheep/goats, meat
products made from the said meat and viscera, embryo/ova/semen derived from sheep/goats(hereinafter sheep/goats meat etc.)  Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the
extent relevant or practicable:  A country which has reported a case/cases of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or a country where the possibility of BSE cases in the
future cannot be ruled out taking account of preventive/control measures of the disease
taken by that country (EC countries, Switzerland, Liechtenstein)
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Amendment of the animal
quarantine measures for BSE.
5. Description of content:  In light of the recent development of the BSE situation and control
measures in Europe and the opinion of the Science Steering Committee (SSC) on thesituation regarding BSE in small ruminants, the Japanese Government urgently decided to
suspend the importation of sheep/goats meat etc. by enforcement of import inspection and
other measures concerning BSE for the purpose of protecting Japan from the possible
introduction of BSE from countries specified in Article 3, in addition to the measures
already notified in G/SPS/N/JPN/62.  These measures apply to the shipment of items
specified in Article 3 to Japan as from 1 April 2001.
6. Objective and rationale:  [     ] food safety,  [  X ] animal health,  [     ] plant protection,
[    ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [     ] protect territory from
other damage from pests           
7. Nature of the urgent problem(s):  Taking account of the situation that the number of BSE
cases in these countries has suddenly increased in spite of the control measures for BSE in
Europe.
8. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [  X ].
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give its appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:           
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  The Domestic
Animal Infectious Disease Control Law (Available in Japanese)
10. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  1 April 2001G/SPS/N/JPN/66
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11. Texts available from/and agency or authority designated to handle comments:
[    ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry point or address, fax
number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:           