The Associated Press | Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2007 7:00 pm
TOKYO — Japan’s government has asked Washington to remove a Nebraska processing plant from a list of facilities authorized to export beef to Japan and urged America to raise efforts to ensure shipments meet safety guidelines, officials said Friday.
Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka also told reporters that Tokyo has asked Washington to improve inspections before beef is shipped from more than 30 designated facilities in the U.S. to Japan.
Earlier this year Japan said it would suspend beef imports from a Tyson Foods Inc. plant in Nebraska, after finding a shipment containing meat that violated a regulation imposed over mad cow concerns.
Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson acknowledged the problem, saying the boxes of beef were mistakenly included in a shipment destined for export from its Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Lexington.
The boxes contained 95 pounds of boneless short ribs that were from cattle under the age of 30 months but did not meet Japan’s requirement for product from beef carcasses under 21 months of age, Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said last month.
On Friday, Mickelson said: “We’re disappointed Japan has asked USDA to de-list the Lexington plant, especially since we acknowledged a mistake was made and have taken corrective measures.
“We will continue to work through USDA in an effort to resolve this matter,” he said. “We will also continue to serve our Japanese customers through our six other U.S. beef processing plants.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released Tuesday that the shipment indeed was not from cattle verified as 20 months old or younger.
Imports of meat from young cattle were allowed because no cases of mad cow disease have ever been found in cows of that age.
After reviewing the report, Japan asked the U.S. to remove the Lexington plant from the list of authorized plants, according to Health Ministry official Takeshi Morita.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns has been resisting the request, Kyodo News agency reported.
Matsuoka said Japan had not yet received any reply from the U.S.