The central government is considering buying all beef with levels of radioactive cesium exceeding government standards in an effort to try to address rising consumer concern and falling prices for Japanese beef.
The central government is considering buying all beef with levels of radioactive cesium exceeding government standards in an effort to try to address rising consumer concern and falling prices for Japanese beef.
It would be the first time the central government has provided direct compensation for food products contaminated by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
However, the current draft plan only envisages paying for beef that has been confirmed as contaminated in random tests. Meat from cows that have not been tested will not be bought.
Farmers are demanding that all cows affected by shipment restrictions be bought up by the government to cover large losses from tumbling beef prices due to the radiation scare.
Vegetables and seafood with levels of radioactive materials exceeding government standards have also been found but there is currently no government plan to purchase those products.
The payment of compensation to beef farmers could lead to complaints from other farmers and fishermen of preferential treatment.
At a July 21 news conference, Nobutaka Tsutsui, the senior agriculture vice minister, said: "It is necessary to stop consumers worrying by preventing any beef that exceeds the standards from reaching the market."
The issue of contaminated beef surfaced July 8, when meat from cattle shipped from a farm in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, was found to have levels of cesium exceeding government standards.
The contamination was caused by feeding the cattle contaminated straw. Investigators are looking into whether cattle in other areas have been similarly affected.
A compilation of statistics by The Asahi Shimbun found that, as of July 21, farmers in 10 prefectures had shipped cattle fed with contaminated straw. About 1,400 head of cattle were shipped.
Farm ministry officials decided the matter was urgent because concerns about the safety of domestic beef have led to a sharp drop in prices.
According to ministry officials, if beef tested after processing at a slaughterhouse is found to have levels of cesium exceeding government standards, all the beef from the cow in question would be purchased and incinerated. Testing of the beef would be conducted randomly and the number of samples to be tested would be decided by the local government conducting the tests.
The new plan would also cover beef shipped after July 8 that had been recalled and found to have cesium levels that exceed government standards. Since July 8, beef from 29 cows have been confirmed to be contaminated.
Officials from relevant ministries will discuss the price at which the contaminated beef will be bought and when the program will begin.
Meanwhile, the policy council of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on July 21 called on the government to expand the program to all cattle subject to shipment bans or official requests to stop shipping.
A member of the council said: "Merely buying up the contaminated beef will not be an effective response to the sharp drop in beef prices."
Farm ministry officials are considering setting up a price subsidy system that would prop up beef prices until they are stabilized.
The buying up of contaminated beef would mark a sharp departure from the central government's previous stance that primary responsibility for compensation payments arising from the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant rests with its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.
At a Lower House special committee hearing July 20, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said: "(The contamination of cattle) was not due to any negligence on the part of ranchers, but arose due to the nuclear accident and the insufficient way in which the central government passed on information."
Another concern among government officials is preventing double payment of compensation.
A government panel is considering guidelines for compensation, but its position is that compensation requests should be directed at TEPCO. The firm has already started provisional payments of compensation to some claimants. The central government plan to buy contaminated beef could overlap with that compensation system. Procedures will have to be established to avoid double payments.
The DPJ proposal to have the central government buy the meat of all cattle that cannot be shipped would shift the burden of compensation from TEPCO to the central government and would therefore contradict guidelines already decided by the government panel. How to pay for the purchases would be another major challenge.