South Korean Government Bans ConAgra Bids Due to Alteration of USDA Certificates.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 1999-- The South Korean Government has suspended ConAgra's Monfort USA beef company from bidding on government purchases of beef. The Livestock Products Marketing Organization (LPMO LPMO Laboratoire de Physique et Metrologie des Oscillateurs LPMO Livestock Promotional Marketing Organisation ), the South Korean Government agency which purchases foreign beef, issued the ban as part of its July requests for bids. The suspension extends a previous two month ban running from April 20 to June 20 and could run as long as another year at the agency's discretion. The ban includes all beef products shipped from ConAgra's Monfort plants. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. reports in the Korean press, the ban is the result of LPMO's discovery earlier this year of illegally altered USDA USDA, n.pr See United States Department of Agriculture. certificates accompanying a shipment of 313 tons of ConAgra's Monfort USA brand beef. The alleged alterations involved changing the grade of the beef shipments from "No Grade" to the more preferable and more expensive "Choice" grade. In a federal civil court lawsuit filed in the Central District of California, one of ConAgra's beef distributors to Korea, PT Prime Trading Corp., has charged that ConAgra personnel have engaged in a pattern and practice of altering USDA certificates without authorization since 1991. According to the Complaint, USDA certificates were altered by "whiting out" entries and retyping amended information. The alleged alterations included changes to grade, net weight, box count, slaughter date and shipping mark. According to the Complaint, during the normal course of PT Prime's business with ConAgra, PT Prime would receive by mail from ConAgra the original USDA certificate pertaining per·tain intr.v. per·tained, per·tain·ing, per·tains 1. To have reference; relate: evidence that pertains to the accident. 2. to each shipment of beef bound for Korea and exported by PT Prime. On occasion, PT Prime would first receive from ConAgra a facsimile copy of the USDA certificate at or about the same day the shipment was inspected and after the USDA certificate was signed by the inspector. After PT Prime learned of the mislabeling mislabeling, n 1. the inaccurate identification of a product in which the label lists ingredients or components that are not actually included within the product. 2. on the LPMO shipment, PT Prime began reviewing the USDA certificates it had received from ConAgra. During the review, PT Prime compared the facsimile copies of the USDA certificates it had received shortly after the inspection with the original copies it would later receive form ConAgra. PT Prime discovered instances in which discrepancies existed between the facsimile and mail copies of the same USDA certificates. According to the Complaint, these discrepancies indicate that unauthorized changes had been made to USDA certificates after the inspector signed the documents and while certificates were still in ConAgra's possession. Attorneys for PT Prime have indicated that the evidence has been turned over to the Food Safety and Inspection Service The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is charged with ensuring that all meat, poultry, and processed egg products in the United States are safe to consume and accurately labeled. of the United States Department of Agriculture United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), n.pr established in 1862, USDA is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry, and egg products. It conducts ongoing research in areas from human nutrition to new crop technologies and also helps ensure open . Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 601, et seq et seq. (et seek) n. abbreviation for the Latin phrase et sequentes meaning "and the following." It is commonly used by lawyers to include numbered lists, pages or sections after the first number is stated, as in "the rules of the road are found in Vehicle Code ., once a USDA certificate is signed, no modifications or alterations of the information on the USDA certificate are permitted without the express written authorization of a USDA inspector. Violation of any provision of the Federal Meat Inspection Act with the intent to defraud To make a Misrepresentation of an existing material fact, knowing it to be false or making it recklessly without regard to whether it is true or false, intending for someone to rely on the misrepresentation and under circumstances in which such person does rely on it to his or is a felony. 21 U.S.C. d 676. |
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