Japan Halts Beef Imports From 2nd Smithfield Plant
US - Japan has temporarily stopped beef imports from a Smithfield Beef Group meatpacking plant in Arizona after boxes of beef arrived that had not been ordered, a farm ministry official said on Monday.
4 March 2008
1 minute read
Tokyo currently only allows in U.S. beef from cattle aged 20 months or younger. U.S. beef imports had been banned in December 2003 after the United States reported a case of mad cow disease, reports Reuters.
Japan has not placed a blanket ban on U.S. beef imports since trade was resumed in the summer of 2006, but it has suspended shipments from plants that have shipped beef cargoes that violate the bilateral agreement or are without required documentation.
The beef cargoes in question, which arrived last month from the plant in Tolleson, included 0.7 tonnes that had not been ordered by trading company Sumitomo Corp (8053.T: Quote, Profile, Research), the farm ministry said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told Japan that it has confirmed that the meat comes from cattle younger than 30 months, but not that the meet is within the limits set by a bilateral agreement on resuming beef imports.
