More Countries Ban U.S. Beef

In the six hours since my first post about mad cow disease, five more countries have banned U.S. beef.

According to the Associated Press, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia have now followed Japan and South Korea.

This tally will only continue to grow, and quickly.

UPDATE: Thailand has joined this growing club.

UPDATE II: 12-24-03 at 10:50 AM
The Associated Press now reports that “[e]ight nations block U.S. beef imports.”

They must be using that new math. I count nine countries listed in the article as banning U.S. beef.

Japan, the world's top importer of U.S. beef, imposed an indefinite ban and planned to recall certain meat products already on the market, while South Korea halted customs inspections of American beef and suspended sales for meat already on supermarket shelves.

Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia followed suit. Later Wednesday, Russia also issued a temporary ban, Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said.

My son Matt, a bit of a math whiz himself, concurs with my count; however, in the AP’s defense, he notes that the article, originally posted at 6:56 A.M., was edited at 9:19 A.M. He reasons that perhaps the AP added Russia’s name to the list, but failed to amend the article’s title to avoid confusion with links.

UPDATE III: 12-24-03 at 6:00 PM
Mexico, Ukraine, South Africa, Chile and Colombia have also banned U.S. beef. The list of 14 includes the top three buyers of U.S. beef, Mexico, Japan and South Korea .