TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government said Friday it has lifted a suspension on beef imports from a U.S. factory as measures have been reaffirmed to prevent the factory's incompliance with a Japan-U.S. beef trade pact aimed at safeguarding against mad cow disease.
The government suspended beef imports from the Grand Island factory of Swift & Co. in Nebraska in October last year as part of these imports lacked U.S. government certificates required under the pact.
A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture attributed the problem to factory workers' failure to confirm the presence of such certificates and said specialized workers in exports to Japan will check the labels and meat in all boxes bound for Japan, the government said.
