March 6, 2007

Japan ramping up inspections of US sausage, ham and bacon

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Monday (Mar 5) expanded its inspections of processed meat products from the US so that all shipments will be subject to having samples checked, instead of the current 30 percent or so, The Nikkei reported in its Tuesday (Mar 6) morning edition.

The ministry made this move after a shipment of a banned processed beef product from the US reached Japan in late February. The ministry decided to bolster inspections while demanding that the US look into the cause of the incident.

Imports of sausage, ham and bacon from the US are to be subject to the stepped-up inspections. Such products shipped from the US totalled 82.79 million tonnes in 2006, or about 17.6 percent of overall imports of such meats from around the world.

Until now, the ministry has conducted inspections on about 30 percent of such shipments from the US. For example, if shipments from 10 different companies reach port, quarantine officers remove samples from three of the shipments to check whether the contents match import documents and if the meat has spoiled.