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Report
No.240705 |
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- International - |
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Irregular Packages of US Beef Co-mingles in Shipment to Japan The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) announced on February 16 that two boxes (43 kg each) of rib meat were found in the cargo of U.S. beef arriving at the port of Yokohama. They did not carry certificate of sanitary inspection issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, which is a must at the time of importing in Japan, and there was no way to confirm that the meat was from cattle aged 20 months or younger. They could well be in violation of the age requirement for shipment to Japan. MAFF checked all the 473 boxes (weighing some 9 tons in all) that arrived at the same time including the two. There was no co-mingling found of BSE related specified risk parts such as vertebral column. Both the governments of Japan and the United States administer U.S. beef export to Japan under the two conditions: one is that beef destined for Japan be from animals age 20 months or younger and another is that specified risk parts be removed. Officials of MHLW and MAFF said they were told on February 16 by the U.S. that the boxes were erroneously included in the cargo to Japan and that further investigation was under way. The government of Japan, therefore, elected to put on hold the import procedure for the cargo from the plant in question. A spokesperson of Tyson Foods, Inc., a major meat business, which owns the plant in question, admitted on February 16 that the particular beef was from cattle aged older than 21 months and, therefore, "did not satisfy EV (Export Verification) Program requirements" and characterized the problem as a simple mistake due to "lack of enough attention." |
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