US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT989

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000989 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA FOR FAS ITP/OA/SHEIKH, BERNSTEIN; COMP/DL/WETSEL 
USDA FOR APHIS OA/FERNANDEZ 
DUBAI FOR MICHAEL HENNEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EAGR, TBIO, KU, Agriculture 
SUBJECT: BSE: FOOD SAFETY COMMITTEE TO REVIEW BAN ON US 
BEEF NEXT WEEK 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 571 
     B. KUWAIT 65 
     C. SECSTATE 9666 
     D. KUWAIT 301 
 
1.  (U) During a March 9, 2005 meeting with Undersecretary 
Rasheed Al-Tabtabaei, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and 
Abdulaziz Al-Khalidi, the Ministry's Assistant Undersecretary 
for Commercial Controls, Econcoun inquired about the status 
of the ban on importing beef from Washington state, referring 
to previous discussion on this topic (see reftels).  U/S 
Al-Tabtabaei said that the Ministry had referred the item to 
the Food Safety Committee and that it was on their agenda for 
the next meeting.  He then called the head of the Food Safety 
Committee to confirm that the next scheduled meeting would be 
held next week. 
 
2.  (U) The U/S restated the Ministry's support on lifting 
the ban while still making it clear that the final decision 
rested with the Food Safety Committee.  He did promise that 
if the Committee decided in favor of lifting the ban the 
Ministry would issue the necessary decree to enact their 
decision "the very same day." 
 
3.  (U) Embassy will follow up with the U/S on this issue 
after the Committee meeting next week and report on the 
decision septel. 
LEBARON