Japan says beef talks not in final stage yet

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo has edged closer to a possible
resumption of U.S. beef imports after expert-level talks with
the United States, but there is still some way to go, Japanese
Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said on Friday.

The two governments held talks on beef safety issues in
Tokyo on Tuesday and Wednesday at the request of the United
States, which is pressing for the reopening of the Japanese
market.

“We have moved one step forward,” Nakagawa said at a news
conference on Friday.

Asked whether Japan and the United States will soon
conclude discussions over beef issues, Nakagawa said: “I don’t
think we have entered the final stage.”

Japan suspended U.S. beef imports on January 20, just a
month after it partially lifted a two-year-old ban on U.S. beef
imposed over mad cow disease fears, when Japanese inspectors
discovered banned spinal material in a shipment of veal.

Nakagawa said that at the end of the meeting the two sides
both understood the background behind the tainted shipment,
which came from a packing house in New York state.

Nakagawa also denied media speculation that the Japanese
government, under U.S. pressure, would resume American beef
imports before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi meets U.S.
President George W. Bush, possibly in June.

“We will clear hurdles step by step,” he said, adding that
they did not set a timetable for each of the tasks they must
complete before lifting a ban on U.S. beef.

The next step for Japan is to hold a public meeting to
explain to Japanese consumers what was discussed at the expert
meeting, and report to Japan’s independent Food Safety
Commission about the meeting, Nakagawa said.

Beef has become a thorny issue in relations between Japan
and its closest ally. Before the initial ban, Japan was the top
importer of U.S. beef, buying 240,000 tons valued at $1.4
billion in 2003.

Last December, Japan lifted a ban on imports from the U.S.
of beef and beef offal from cattle aged up to 20 months, on
condition that specified risk materials that could spread mad
cow disease, such as spinal cords, were removed before
shipment.