February 21, 2007

Japan bans beef from one Tyson Foods plant
 

Japan has suspended beef shipments from the Tyson Foods packing plant in Nebraska, US.

The move came after Japanese customs inspectors found a boxed beef shipment that did not comply with the terms of the countries' bilateral agreement.

The world's largest beef producer said an inadvertent beef shipment from its Lexington, Nebraska plant contained two boxes of beef from cattle that exceeded Japan's age limit of 20 months or younger.

The boxes totalled 95 pounds of boneless short ribs and did not contain any materials considered a possible risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease, said Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson.

The US has said the cargo might have been shipped by mistake.

Mickelson said the company would continue to serve its Japanese beef customers through its six other beef plants and would ensure such a thing does not happen again.

Last year, Japan agreed to resume imports of US beef, which had been banned since the US found a case of mad cow disease in 2003, but only on condition that the meat came from cattle aged up to 20 months. Prior to the ban, Tyson Foods' trade with Japan totalled US$594 million in sales.