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Thursday November 30, 2:24 PMJapan has conducted snap inspections of U.S. beef facilities(Kyodo) _ Japanese officials have conducted surprise inspections of U.S. meatpacking plants that were authorized to export beef to Japan after the country lifted its ban on U.S. beef imports imposed because of the fear of mad cow disease, farm minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka said Thursday.But Matsuoka declined to specify when and where the Japanese inspectors conducted the snap inspections to check if plants were complying with conditions for beef exports to Japan. He was speaking at the House of Councillors agriculture, forestry and fisheries committee. Japan prohibited imports of American beef for two years after the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in the United States in December 2003. The country lifted the ban last December but reinstated it after a veal shipment from the United States that arrived at Narita airport in January was found to contain part of a backbone -- material prohibited by a bilateral agreement on the beef trade. The ban was lifted again in late July after Japanese government inspectors checked that safeguard measures were being observed at U.S. meatpacking plants authorized to supply beef to Japan. |
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