May 28, 2005

US still not satisfied with Japan's move to lift beef ban

Japan may be lifting its import ban on US beef but the US said it will only be satisfied with Japanese consumers begin the buy the product again.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill said such a tough US stance is fair because American beef is clearly safe and that global scientific standards need to be respected.

Brushing off repeated US calls to set a timeline to resume imports, the Japanese government maintains it needs to wait for an approval by the independent Food Safety Commission, which is poised to give the go-ahead.