August 3, 2011

Japan's cattle shipments ban includes Tochigi Prefecture

The Japanese government on Tuesday (Aug 2) halted cattle shipments from Tochigi Prefecture, increasing the number of prefectures affected by the prohibition to four.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the decision was made after cattle raised in Tochigi Prefecture were found contaminated with radioactive cesium.

The government had already banned beef cattle shipments from three other prefectures, Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, where a nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is still leaking radiation.

Tochigi shipped 55,353 cattle to market in 2009, making it the fifth-largest cattle producer among Japan's 47 prefectures. Combined shipments from the four prefectures now subject to the shipment ban totalled about 158,000 cattle in 2009, accounting for about 13% of total shipments in Japan that year.

In Tochigi, radioactive cesium exceeding the government-set allowable limit of 300 becquerels per kilogramme for hay has been detected in rice hay for cattle. Additionally, cesium above 500 becquerels was found in beef meat from three cattle shipped from a farm in Nasushiobara and one from Nikko.

Among other measures, the government is asking all farms in Tochigi that shipped cows exposed to radioactive cesium to inspect all cattle before it will consider lifting the shipment ban.