事故米転売

(Mainichi Japan) September 15, 2008
Mikasa Foods president releases statement apologizing for tainted rice sales
事故米転売：一部架空売買も初めて認める…三笠が釈明書

OSAKA -- Mikasa Foods President Mitsuo Fuyuki released a statement of apology and explanation on Sunday to make amends for his company's sales of tainted rice for human consumption.
三笠フーズの冬木三男社長が１４日、汚染米転売について「お詫（わ）び及び釈明」とする文書を発表した。

In the statement, Fuyuki expressed his apologies once again, stated that he was prepared to leave his fate to the legal authorities and to be judged harshly for his actions, and also admitted for the first time that some of the transactions on his company's books had been fabricated.
「万死に値する」「司直の手にゆだね、厳しい裁きを受ける覚悟」と改めて謝罪。一部の取引が帳簿上の架空売買だったことも初めて認めた。

But he did not mention that the pesticide methamidophos had been detected in quantities exceeding permissible levels from the glutinous rice sold by his firm, and repeated his previous claim that he considered the rice to be safe.
しかし、市場に出回った餅米から基準値を超えるメタミドホスが検出されたことに言及はなく、「安全と考えた」との従来の主張を繰り返した。

Fuyuki issued his statement on a single A4-size sheet of paper. In addition to apologizing to the nation, he explained how his company came to deal in tainted rice, and provided information on transactions, the distribution of the tainted rice, and the flow of money.
釈明書はＡ４用紙１枚。「国民の皆様」に対するおわびに加え、（１）汚染米を扱うに至った経緯（２）取引実態（３）汚染米と金の流れ－－について説明している。

He said that his company began to purchase tainted rice after it bought a license to purchase raw material for glue processing from Miyazaki Shoten, a bankrupt firm in Fukuoka Prefecture. He was told by Kazuo Miyazaki, who works as a special advisor for Mikasa Foods since transferring from Miyazaki Shoten, that "you will make lots of money if you do it (sell tainted rice) skillfully. I have been doing this for more than 10 years, so I have thorough knowledge" of this business.
Fuyuki calculated that selling tainted rice "could be a business that boosts profits," and made the decision to go forward.

不正の経緯に関しては、取引先の「宮崎商店」（福岡県）が倒産し、同社の「糊（のり）加工原料買付資格」を買い取ったのが事故米にかかわるきっかけだったとした。同社から三笠フーズに転職した宮崎一雄・特別顧問から「上手にやればもうかる。私は十数年やって、熟知している」と言われ、「利益の上がる商売になりそう」と決断したという。

Later, Miyazaki began to direct the handling of the tainted rice, according to Fuyuki, who has claimed that he felt that selling the rice was "acceptable if it was profitable," and left Miyazaki in charge.
その後は、宮崎顧問が汚染米の扱いを指揮し、「もうかるならそれでよい」と任せきりにしていたとしている。

Miyazaki, however, has denied to the Mainichi Shimbun that he brought up the idea of selling tainted rice.
宮崎顧問は毎日新聞の取材に「（事故米転売は）提案していない」と話している。

Fuyuki's statement also claims that the toxicity of methamidophos declines as time passes. Since his company found less than 0.01 parts per million of the pesticide in tests that it conducted on its own, Fuyuki concluded that the rice was safe and began to sell it. Although Mikasa Foods only tested about half of nearly 20 shipments of tainted rice, Fuyuki's statement does not include details on the testing.
また、メタミドホスについては、釈明書で「時間とともに毒性が減少する」と説明。自主検査で安全基準値（０・０１ｐｐｍ以下）だったため、安全と考え販売に踏み切ったという。同社の出荷前検査は、２０回近い出荷回数のうち１０回程度しか実施していなかったことが既に判明しているが、検査の頻度には触れていない。

Mikasa Foods sold about 350 tons of the methamidophos-tainted rice to Yamakawa Shokuryo in Fukuoka Prefecture, but Fuyuki's statement reveals that sales were recorded as having gone to Marumo Shoji. The firm also booked sales of 10 tons to Morimoto Shoten, but has "no knowledge" of what happened to the shipment of the remainder. Fuyuki claims that he only met the president of Yamakawa Shokuryo on one occasion about four years ago, and has never met the president of Marumo Shoji.
さらに、メタミドホス汚染米の流通に関しては、約３５０トンを福岡県の「山川食糧」に売却したが、帳簿上は佐賀県の仲介業者「マルモ商事」へ架空計上していたと明らかにした。他にも「森本商店」に１０トン出荷したと記したが、「それ以降は全く関知していない」と流通経路の詳細は明かさなかった。また、山川食糧社長とは約４年前に１度会っただけで、マルモ商事社長とは面識がないと説明した。

President Fuyuki held a press conference on Sept. 6, the day after the tainted rice scandal surfaced, but has not appeared in public since then. A Mikasa Foods public relations official said that Fuyuki has not come to the company since Sept. 9, and that his "whereabouts are unknown."
冬木社長は問題発覚翌日の６日に会見したものの、その後は公の場に姿を現していない。広報担当者によると、９日を最後に会社にも出社しておらず、「どこにいるか把握していない状態」だという。

毎日新聞　2008年9月14日　21時44分（最終更新　9月14日　22時08分）