March 23, 2007

Japan asks to remove Tyson plant from US beef exporters list
 

Japan has asked the US government Thursday (March 22) to remove Nebraska-based Tyson Foods from its supplier list as Japanese officials stated it violated the export terms agreed between the two countries, reports Japan's Kyodo News agency.

In early February, beef from Tyson Fresh Meats Inc Lexington plant was found to have been shipped without a US government certificate identifying it as from cattle aged up to 20 months. Japan has suspended beef imports from the plant since then.

According to Kyodo, the Japanese government said Tyson has violated the bilateral agreement wherein the US limits beef exports to Japan of meat from cattle aged up to 20 months to safeguard against so-called "mad cow" disease, the officials said.

"Mad cow" disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a chronic, degenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system of cattle, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. In 1996, scientists found a possible link between BSE and a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a similar disease in humans. Because of this, the US FDA concluded "evidence indicates that humans may acquire vCJD after consuming BSE-contaminated cattle products."

The incident however does not include banning overall US beef imports.

Japanese authorities has released US survey results showing the US government was unable to confirm the beef from the Lexington plant cleared the export terms.

It is the first time that Japan has removed an American meatpacking plant from the list of beef exporters since it resumed beef trade last July with the US.

It has banned US beef imports after the first "mad cow" disease case was discovered in the country in December 2003 but was lifted in December 2005.

In January 2006, Japan has again rejected US beef after a veal shipment was found to contain part of a backbone, a risk material banned under the bilateral beef trade agreement.

The ban was again removed last July after Japanese government inspectors checked the safeguard measures at meatpacking plants that the US has certified as suppliers to Japan.