Final Report of an Audit Carried Out in Japan Covering Japan's Meat Inspection System, January 6 through January 21, 2005

摘要

The audit took place in Japan from January 6, 2005 through January 21, 2005. An opening meeting was held on January 6, 2005 in Tokyo, Japan with the Central Competent Authority (CCA). At this meeting the auditor confirmed the objective and scope of the audit, the auditor's itinerary, and requested additional information needed to complete the audit of Japan's meat inspection system. The auditor was accompanied during the entire audit by representatives from the CCA, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), and representatives from the regional and local inspection offices. This audit was a follow-uv audit. The objective of the audit was to evaluate the performance of the CCA with respect to controls over the slaughter and processing establishments certified by the CCA as eligible to export meat products to the United States In pursuit of the objective, the following sites were visited: the headquarters of the CCA, four meat inspection centers, four beef slaughter and processing (deboning) establishments, one semi-national private laboratory performing residue analyses, and one meat inspection center laboratory performing Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Salmonella species (Salmonella) analyses.