May 21, 2007

 

Japan stops meat imports from Cargill plant on missing documents

 

 

Japan has stopped imports from a US meat plant Friday (May 18) after a shipment came without the important documents, officials said Friday (May 18).

 

The imports under question were a box of frozen beef stomach in a shipment of 2,899 boxes of frozen liver, totalling about 18 tonnes, which arrived in Osaka Thursday from Cargill Meat Solutions' plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado, the agriculture and health ministries said in a joint statement.

 

The frozen stomach did not have the required papers from the US government, according to the statement.

 

The US Department of Agriculture has notified the Japanese governments on its ongoing investigations regarding the shipment.

 

The ban follows three cases of similar import bans for technical violations, according to Toshio Katakai, an official of the agriculture ministry.

 

The latest ban comes on heels on the Japanese inspection team touring 28 US meatpackers in 14 states since Sunday to evaluate their fulfilment with restrictions Tokyo imposed over mad cow disease concerns.

 

Japan, a nation that is extremely nervous about food safety, especially imported meat, banned American beef imports in December 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease in the US.

 

Cargill Meat Solutions supplies fresh beef and pork to Precept Foods, its joint venture with Hormel that markets branded fresh meats.

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