Japan-US beef trade talks have been postponed due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among cows and other livestock in Japan, the country's farm minister said Tuesday (Jun 1).

The US last month proposed holding the talks but Japan declined the offer while focusing on containing the disease, Hirotaka Akamatsu said.

Akamatsu and US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in April agreed to resume talks toward lifting Japanese restrictions on US beef imports, which have been suspended since August 2007.

The minister said he believes the US side understands Japan's situation.

Japan limits US beef imports to meat from cows of 20 months or younger out of concern about mad cow disease.