Indonesia halts US beef imports amid mad cow case

Indonesia says it is suspending imports of US beef following the discovery of mad cow disease in an American dairy cow.

Vice Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan said Thursday the ban would be lifted after the US government confirms all farms are free of mad cow, which can cause a deadly brain disease in humans.

Heriawan says US beef last year accounted for 20,000 tons — or 20 percent of Indonesia's overall imports. The gap will temporarily be filled by exports from Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Even before the new discovery, Indonesia said it wanted to reduce its dependency on beef imports, with the ultimate goal of becoming self sufficient.

Its goal was to cut beef imports by 30 percent this year.