USDA ramps up inspections after Japan finds improper beef shipment

USDA ramps up inspections after Japan finds improper beef shipment    The U.S. government admitted Friday that a shipment of beef to Japan contained cattle parts that are banned under an agreement reached last month to end a two-year ban on U.S. beef imports because of fears of “mad cow” disease.
   The Department of Agriculture said it is taking action against the processing plant and inspector who handled the shipment and stepping up inspections.
   Japanese Prime Minister Junichero Koizumi earlier said he will order a halt to beef imports from the United States, based on recommendations from the Ministry of Agriculture, which reported that inspectors at Narita International Airport found pieces of cattle backbone in a shipment.
   Japan partially lifted the trade ban on U.S. beef to allow meat from cows up to 20 months of age. The agreement also excluded spines, brains, bone marrow and other parts of the cow thought to be at higher risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a brain-wasting disease.
   Although the beef shipment meets the international safety standard for cows aged 30 months or younger, “our agreement with Japan is to export beef with no vertebral column and we have failed to meet the terms of the agreement,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in a statement.
   “While this is not a food safety issue, this is an unacceptable failure on our part to meet the requirements of our agreement with Japan. We take this matter seriously, recognizing the importance of our beef export market, and we are acting swiftly and firmly,” he said.
   Johanns said he apologized to the Japanese ambassador for the breakdown in procedures, and plans to issue a report to the Japanese government about actions the department intends to take and the results of its investigation.
   Johanns said Japan is basically preventing beef shipments from entering the market until it is satisfied the U.S. has met their concerns. The rapid U.S. action is designed to forestall Japan from reimposing a permanent ban.
   The USDA said it has removed the unidentified processing plant responsible for the shipment from the list of companies allowed to export beef to Japan, and has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the packing mistake. Johanns said it was the plant’s first shipment to Japan since the 2003 ban on U.S. beef imports was lifted in December.
   “We will take the appropriate personnel action against the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service employee who conducted the inspection of the product in question and approved it to be shipped to Japan,” Johanns said.
   The department has dispatched a team of inspectors to Japan to help re-examine every shipment awaiting entry approval to make sure they comply with the terms of the export agreement with the largest customer for American beef.
   Johanns said extra inspectors are being sent to every plant approved to export beef to review procedures and ensure compliance with trade agreements. Two inspectors will now be required to review and certify every export shipment. He also ordered unannounced inspections at those plants and extra training for all beef inspectors to make sure they full understand the requirements of all beef export verification programs. Johanns said he also plans to meet with representatives from all U.S. processing plants that export beef to review safety and trade requirements.
   The news from Japan comes one day after Singapore agreed to resume shipments of beef under 30 months of age. U.S. beef trade was also recently restored with Hong Kong and South Korea.
   In a press conference, Johanns said the USDA will be in contact with other countries to make them aware of the situation and explain how the United States has responded. He emphasized that the United States agreed to the much stricter requirement for beef from cows under 20 months of age to reestablish the beef market in Japan, and that other countries do not have the same standard.
   With the new procedures in place, “I feel very, very confident in the safety of U.S. beef and feel very, very confident about meeting the requirements,” Johanns said. “This simply should not have happened. I don’t want to mince words about that, I’m very unhappy about that. It’s a situation where very, very clearly our inspector should have caught this and I’m doing everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
   U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick was scheduled to arrive in Japan Sunday for a previously scheduled visit, and the beef issue is likely to be a part of discussions with Japanese officials.