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Japan lifts ban on imports from two U.S. beef packersTOKYO (AP)--Japan said Sept. 19 it has lifted a ban on beef imports from two U.S. meat packers after reviewing the companies' steps to improve safety measures following unauthorized shipments that contained parts believed to pose a risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The Agriculture Ministry said it resumed imports from the Souderton, Pa., plant run by the Smithfield Beef Group, and the National Beef California LP, effective immediately. Japan halted shipments from the two plants earlier this year after finding parts banned under a bilateral trade pact. Japan imposed a ban on U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after the first case of BSE was found in the United States. Shipments resumed in January 2006. Shipments from the Smithfield plant were suspended in January after meat from a 21-month old cow was found. Japan halted imports from the National Beef plant in April, when its shipment contained spinal cord. The ministry said its on-site inspection in August at 10 authorized U.S. meat packing factories, including the two that had been suspended, confirmed that they had taken measures to prevent banned parts from slipping into boxes for shipment to Japan. Under terms of the nations' pact, U.S. beef shipped to Japan must come only from cattle age 20 months and younger, which are thought to pose less of a risk of the disease. U.S. exporters must also remove spinal columns, brain tissue and other materials from shipments bound for Japan. BSE is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady. 9/29/08 Date: 9/25/08 Advertisement
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