Japan wants US beef plant taken off approved list

TOKYO, March 23 (Reuters) - Japan has asked the U.S. Agriculture Department to remove a Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN.N) facility in Nebraska from a list of suppliers eligible to ship beef to Japan after it failed to supply proper documents.

Japan suspended imports from the facility operated by Tyson, the largest U.S. meat firm, in February after it exported a cargo to Japan that did not include documents providing the age of the cattle.

In a statement issued late on Thursday, Japan's farm and health ministries said they decided to take the step after studying a USDA report on the incident.

The report said a shipment from the Tyson meatpacking facility in Lexington, Nebraska, included two boxes of ineligible meat that were not listed on the export certificate and were not on the company's approved list of products for export to Japan.

It also said the meat was not from cattle verified as 20 months old or less -- the maximum age allowed under an agreement between the two countries that allowed imports to resume after a suspension following the discovery of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease.

Japan agreed last July to resume imports of U.S. beef after Tokyo reinstated a ban in January 2006 following the discovery of banned cattle parts in a veal shipment from a New York company.

Japan initially banned imports of U.S. beef in December 2003 after the mad cow case, then resumed imports in late 2005.

Under a bilateral agreement, Japan can import U.S. beef on condition the meat is from cattle aged up to 20 months, as younger cattle are believed to have a lower risk of developing mad cow disease.

U.S. suppliers also must eliminate all specified risk materials, such as spinal cords, that are thought to carry the risk of spreading the disease.

In November, Japan temporarily suspended beef imports from another U.S. plant after a cargo arrived without the necessary documentation.