Central, local gov`ts at odds over fate of stud bulls

TOKYO, July 13 Kyodo -
Farm minister Masahiko Yamada said Tuesday the state will consider taking
administrative measures to slaughter six privately owned stud bulls in a bid to
contain foot-and-mouth disease if the Miyazaki prefectural government continues
to reject a call to dispose of them.
Yamada and Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru were at odds over whether to
slaughter the bulls in a meeting at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Ministry. Yamada reiterated that the bulls should be killed in accordance with
law while the governor called anew for taking exceptional relief measures.
Yamada notified Higashikokubaru of a plan to instruct the Miyazaki prefectural
government as early as Wednesday to slaughter the bulls under local government
law, according to officials with knowledge of the talks.
The state needs to file a suit with the Supreme Court for endorsement on
executing an administrative action if the prefectural government refuses to
accept the instruction. Farm ministry officials said it would be unprecedented
for the central government to take such action due to inaction by a prefectural
government.
''The farmers whose bulls have been slaughtered made extraordinary sacrifices,
so we can't make any exception,'' Yamada said. ''I have to say the prefecture's
crisis management is lukewarm now that it is feared a new type of virus could
appear.''
The ministry insists that the sanitization process would not be complete until
the privately owned stud bulls are killed, while indicating that the planned
lifting of bans on transfer of animals in areas severely affected by the
epidemic may be put off from Thursday midnight.
Higashikokubaru is adamant that slaughtering the bulls is unacceptable.
''The owner of the bulls said he would die if they are slaughtered,''
Higashikokubaru told reporters after the talks. ''He is serious and I wouldn't
stake anyone's life on an administrative decision.''
''The current situation is not explosive, and I want the state to respond
flexibly,'' he said, noting that no problems would arise from the standpoint of
epidemic prevention if all six bulls test negative.
He also countered Yamada's criticism regarding crisis management, rapping the
government for holding Sunday's national election for the upper house of the
Diet before the epidemic had abated.
''I wonder if it was the right thing to hold an election, in which a lot of
people come and go, just when foot-and-mouth is widespread,'' he said.
Higashikokubaru initially demanded that the bulls be slaughtered under a
special law aimed at containing the highly contagious animal disease, which has
dealt a severe blow to livestock farming in southwestern Japan.
But he later changed his mind, saying that the prefectural government intended
to take over the ownership of the six bulls and make them an exception to the
slaughter procedure.
Meanwhile, the Miyazaki prefectural government said about 289,000 animals,
including bulls, cows and pigs, have been slaughtered in efforts to help
prevent the disease from spreading, revising the number upward from the 276,000
announced earlier.
==Kyodo