Miyazaki Prefecture will build a new Miyazaki beef production plant for export to the European Union, allocating JPY1.7 billion from its budget this year. The new plant to be built by the fiscal year 2018 will implement HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) system and animal welfare practices to meet the requirements for the export to the EU. The prefecture aims at boosting Miyazaki wagyu beef export to 400 tons, double the volume in the fiscal 2015, by entering the new market.
Miyazaki Prefecuture will have a new and the first beef production plant that meets the EU standards. It will be operated by Miyachiku, a local beef production company and an affiliated meat production company of Miyazaki Prefectural Economic Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA Miyazaki Keizairen). The new plant will be located on Miyachiku’s Tuno Plant in Tuno town. Construction cost will come from the national budget (JPY1.2 billion) and the prefecture’s general account budget (JPY0.5 billion).
The new plant houses all meat processing lines as well as facilities for workers including staff restaurants in one big 4,000-square-meter building. This way, it can reduce comings and goings of its workers and implement the HACCP system. It’s equipped with higher levels of cooling systems to strictly control the temperature of dressed carcasses to less than 7 degrees centigrade to meet the EU standards for EU-authorized establishments for meat production. Beef and pork production lines are completely separated. Sheds for cattle are equipped with feeders to show proper consideration for animal welfare on which European countries place high priority.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan so far has recognized only four slaughterhouses in Japan as authorized establishments for meat exports to EU countries. From Miyazaki Prefecture, most of the beef export goes to the US market. “Beef from Miyazaki won a very high reputations at milanoexpo-2015 in Italy. We hope to boost the livestock industry in Miyazaki by entering the big new market in Europe,” said a Miyazaki prefectural government official in charge of the livestock industry.