Japan to Resume U.S. Beef Imports

Japan agreed Wednesday to lift its reinstated ban on U.S. beef after checking U.S. meatpacking plants to confirm that safeguards were in place.

But the decision still means U.S. beef will not arrive in Japan before late next month at the earliest, Kyodo reported.

Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry will send officials to the United States to see if 35 meatpacking plants certified to ship beef to Japan are complying with export requirements, the officials said.

Japan was the largest importer of U.S. beef before its ban, instituted in response after so-called incidents of mad cow disease.

Whether Japanese consumers will buy U.S. beef remains an open question; there is widespread skepticism about the quality of such imports, and Tokyo’s decision is seen domestically as politically — not scientifically — based.