Japan Suspends Beef Imports From Tyson Plant
The AP is reporting that Japan suspended beef shipments from a Tyson Plant over its failure to remove cattle parts, specifically bovine spinal columns, banned under a bilateral agreement. Japanese officials are concerned about mad cow disease. According to the A.P.:
Japanese quarantine inspectors found bovine spinal columns in one of 732 boxes shipped from Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., which arrived in Japan in late September, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. The box contained 35 pounds (16 kilograms) of chilled short loin with spinal bones, which were not released commercially, said ministry official Goshi Nakata.
The suspension only affects Tyson's factory in Lexington, Nebraska, one of 46 meatpacking plants approved to export beef to Japan.
The same plant also had Japanese export suspended in February 2007 for a similar problem.
