Seafood firm head, others arrested over false labeling of eel products+

KOBE, Nov. 15 Kyodo -
The president of a Tokushima-based seafood importer and seven other people were
arrested Saturday for allegedly falsely labeling and selling grilled eels
farmed in China as Japanese-raised eels, police said.
Those arrested by the Hyogo and Tokushima prefectural police include Akihiro
Nakatani, 44, president of the seafood importer Uohide, Junichi Kitamoto, a
40-year-old former section chief at Kobe-based seafood wholesaler Shinko Gyorui
Ltd., and Tomoyuki Kawakami, 41, head of Uohide's Fukuoka sales office.
The eight people were arrested on suspicion of violating the unfair competition
prevention law, which bans false product labeling.
The police will consider the possibility of building a fraud case against them
as well, investigative sources said.
According to the investigation, the eight allegedly labeled 256 tons of grilled
eels from China as farmed in Aichi Prefecture at a warehouse in Takamatsu,
Kagawa Prefecture, from February to March this year.
They are suspected of having sold 49 tons of the falsely labeled eels to
intermediate wholesalers via Shinko from March to June.
Grilled eels raised domestically sell at prices two to three times higher than
Chinese-raised eels.
Uohide has acknowledged the false labeling since the issue came to light in
June, saying it falsified the labels to clear its inventory of grilled eels
farmed in China, which did not sell well after the food-poisoning case
involving Chinese-made frozen dumplings in late January.
Uohide has said Shinko's Kitamoto was involved in the scheme. Kitamoto denied
the allegation when the police questioned him on a voluntary basis Thursday and
Friday.
The latest case came to light after consumers reported to the fisheries
ministry in May using its food-labeling hotline that the eels were unusually
cheap for domestic products.
==Kyodo
2008-11-15 22:09:18