Bans on beef from Iwate, Fukushima and Tochigi prefectures were lifted after effective safety measures protecting livestock from contamination had been imposed, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.

"This is a step taken after the safety management and shipment control systems were secured," he told reporters.

Japan last week lifted a similar ban on beef from Miyagi prefecture, north of Fukushima, meaning all beef restrictions in the country have now been removed.

Local governments must now inspect all cattle before allowing the beef to be shipped to food markets, a farm official said. Only farmers whose cattle are confirmed to be safe can resume shipments.

Almost 3,000 cattle feared tainted with radioactive cesium were shipped nationwide, slaughtered and sold after the animals were fed rice straw exposed to fallout from the tsunami-triggered nuclear crisis.

Hay stored outside is thought to have been contaminated by radioactive materials spewed by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in the weeks after it was hit by reactor meltdowns following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Fears over beef surfaced in July when elevated cesium levels were found in Tokyo in meat from cattle shipped from a farm in Minamisoma, a town just outside the no-go zone around the nuclear plant.

From the August 25, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.