Indonesia Now Suspends Some US Beef Imports

Indonesia will suspend imports of some types of U.S. beef from Thursday because of a confirmed U.S. case of mad cow disease, Vice Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan told Reuters.

Major buyers of U.S. beef have said they will continue with U.S. beef imports after a Californian dairy cow was found with the disease, so the partial ban from Indonesia will have little impact.

Southeast Asia's largest economy only accounted for 0.6 percent of U.S. beef exports worth about $17 million in 2011, according to U.S. government figures.

Agriculture ministry officials said boned meat, gelatin from bones and innards shipped from April 24, when the mad cow case was found in California, will be forbidden. "Pure meat" will still be allowed, Heriawan said.

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