ID :
198795
Tue, 08/02/2011 - 18:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/198795
The shortlink copeid
Japan's ban on cattle shipments expands to Tochigi Pref.+
TOKYO, Aug. 2 Kyodo -
The Japanese government on Tuesday banned cattle shipments from Tochigi Prefecture, raising to four the number of prefectures subject to the ban imposed to prevent radiation-contaminated meat from reaching the nation's store shelves.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference the decision was made after cattle raised in Tochigi Prefecture were found contaminated with radioactive cesium.
The government had already banned beef cattle shipments from three other prefectures -- Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, where a nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is still leaking radiation.
Tochigi shipped 55,353 cattle to market in 2009, making it the fifth-largest cattle producer among Japan's 47 prefectures. Combined shipments from the four prefectures now subject to the shipment ban totaled about 158,000 cattle in 2009, accounting for about 13 percent of total shipments in Japan that year.
In Tochigi, radioactive cesium exceeding the government-set allowable limit of 300 becquerels per kilogram for hay has been detected in rice hay for cattle. Additionally, cesium above 500 becquerels was found in beef meat from three cattle shipped from a farm in Nasushiobara and one from Nikko.
Among other measures, the government is asking all farms in Tochigi that shipped cows exposed to radioactive cesium to inspect all cattle before it will consider lifting the shipment ban.
The Japanese government on Tuesday banned cattle shipments from Tochigi Prefecture, raising to four the number of prefectures subject to the ban imposed to prevent radiation-contaminated meat from reaching the nation's store shelves.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference the decision was made after cattle raised in Tochigi Prefecture were found contaminated with radioactive cesium.
The government had already banned beef cattle shipments from three other prefectures -- Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, where a nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is still leaking radiation.
Tochigi shipped 55,353 cattle to market in 2009, making it the fifth-largest cattle producer among Japan's 47 prefectures. Combined shipments from the four prefectures now subject to the shipment ban totaled about 158,000 cattle in 2009, accounting for about 13 percent of total shipments in Japan that year.
In Tochigi, radioactive cesium exceeding the government-set allowable limit of 300 becquerels per kilogram for hay has been detected in rice hay for cattle. Additionally, cesium above 500 becquerels was found in beef meat from three cattle shipped from a farm in Nasushiobara and one from Nikko.
Among other measures, the government is asking all farms in Tochigi that shipped cows exposed to radioactive cesium to inspect all cattle before it will consider lifting the shipment ban.
