Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns last week announced the results of an investigation into the ineligible shipment of veal that was sent to Japan last month. He also released a comprehensive USDA report that details the findings of the investigation and actions taken by the department.

Among other things, the investigation revealed the incident in question was the result of inadequate familiarity on the part of both the exporter and the USDA inspector

with the specific products that were eligible for shipment to Japan. Under the U.S. agreement with Japan, no vertebral column is to be shipped; however, vertebral column was shipped in one box labeled "Hotel Rack" and two boxes labeled "Trimmed Loin."

In addition, says the report, the investigation revealed that USDA's Food Safety & Inspection Service inspection personnel at the establishment involved were not sufficiently aware of the export verification (EV) program operated by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, and therefore "should not have certified/approved shipment of ineligible product for export to Japan." Because this was the first and only shipment of veal to Japan under the EV program, "we are confident in our assessment that the circumstances surrounding this ineligible shipment were unique," the report said.

"The thoroughness of this report demonstrates just how serious we are about addressing this incident and providing assurance to our trading partners that our system is among the best in the world," said Johanns. "I believe our actions fully address the facts that led to this incident and provide added protections on a broader scale to prevent similar problems in the future."....