Japan will not ease US beef restrictions

Japan announced it has no plans to lift long-running trade restrictions on US beef imposed over mad cow disease on Tuesday (Apr 6).

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was travelling to Japan Tuesday for a four-day visit in a renewed attempt to settle the long-standing dispute that has created friction between the allies.

"Asking the government's food safety commission to review US beef would mean Japan was heading in the direction of changing its trade restriction," said Japan's Agriculture Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu.

Japan, which used to be the largest importer of US beef, stopped the imports after mad cow disease was detected in an American herd in late 2003 and has only resumed limited imports since then.

As the ban threatened to turn into a trade war, with US farm state senators seeking sanctions, Tokyo agreed in 2006 to resume US imports from cattle under 20 months, except for high-risk parts such as brains and spine bones.

Japan's US beef imports now stand at only around 10% of their former peak, while Australia has become the biggest beef importer.

Tokyo has been repeatedly criticised by US farm state senators as being too rigid on its beef ban which continues even though no new cases of the mad cow disease have been detected in years.