The government instructed Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai on July 28 to suspend all shipments of beef cattle from the prefecture after radiation contamination was detected in some of the meat.
The government instructed Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai on July 28 to suspend all shipments of beef cattle from the prefecture after radiation contamination was detected in some of the meat.
Miyagi is the second prefecture to have all beef cattle shipments suspended, after Fukushima Prefecture. It is the first time any food shipments have been suspended in Miyagi Prefecture.
The instructions were issued by Japan's nuclear emergency response headquarters, led by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Radioactive cesium exceeding permissible levels was detected in beef from six cattle shipped by livestock farmers in three municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture as of July 27.
After cesium was also found in straw fed in Tome, Kurihara and other places in Miyagi Prefecture, the government task force decided to halt all shipments.
"The government will take all possible measures to ensure farmers can be compensated," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference July 28.
Farms in Miyagi Prefecture raise about 97,000 head of beef cattle. The prefecture earlier had urged voluntary restriction of shipments of cattle fed rice straw collected after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident.
In Tochigi Prefecture on July 28, Governor Tomikazu Fukuda announced that blanket testing of all beef shipped from the prefecture will be done. The start date will be decided next week.
Tochigi Prefecture earlier planned to inspect just one beef cow per farm, due to a lack of inspectors. It changed its policy "because of a request from the JA (National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations) group and following the lead of other prefectures that are conducting blanket testing."
About 55,000 cattle are shipped from farms in the prefecture every year, 80 percent of which are slaughtered outside the prefecture. The prefecture plans to contract private inspection companies to test any Tochigi meat processed outside the prefecture, an official said.
Meanwhile, Ibaraki Prefecture decided to start testing all beef cattle slaughtered in the prefecture, or roughly 16,000 head of cattle annually. That represents about half of the 32,000 shipped to market from the prefecture each year.
For the remaining 16,000 cattle shipped for processing outside the prefecture, the prefecture will test one head of cattle per farm.