Imports of US beef will be temporarily suspended from Friday in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) after confirmation of the first US case of mad cow disease, according to a source from the local Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM).

The IACM, responsible for food inspection, pointed out that the decision made by the SAR government after consultations with local experts is aimed to safeguard the customers' health and the safety of food.

It was reported that an independent test by a British veterinary laboratory had confirmed the first U.S. case of mad cow disease. Many US beef importing countries and regions including Japan, Singapore, Russia, China and Hong Kong, have decided to halt the US beef imports since Tuesday.

The IACM said that the US beef on the market of Macao has been certificated by the authorities of producing regions where no case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was found.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2003)