October 18, 2012

US resumes beef import from Fukushima

Japan's Fukushima prefecture resumed beef exports to the US for the first time in 30 months since the nuclear disaster took place.

Farmers celebrated the shipment of three cattle with a ceremony on Sunday. The three cattle will be processed in Japan and the meat will be sold to upmarket restaurants in the US.

Cattle in Fukushima undergo radiation tests before shipment, but prices of its beef fell to 70-80% of pre-disaster levels. Livestock farmers hope the resumption of exports will help allay concerns about radioactive contamination.

The Fukushima accident of March 11, 2011 sent radio active materials into the ocean and atmosphere, contaminated the food and water supply, and forced the evacuation of 160,000 residents in a 30-kilometer radius of the Fukushima- Daiichi nuclear power plant whose reactors were knocked out in the quake-triggered massive tsunami. Most of the surrounding areas of the plant still continue to be a no entry zone.

Japanese beef export to the US were also suspended in 2010 due to an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in southern Japan. The embargo was lifted in August.