July 21, 2004

Japan, US Start 3rd Round Of Beef Trade Talks

Japan and the United States started two-day beef trade talks in Tokyo on Wednesday to try to achieve a breakthrough on Japan's ban on US beef imports since the outbreak of mad cow disease in the country last year.

Experts and government officials from the two countries met for the third and final round of talks following one in Tokyo in May and another in Fort Collins, Colorado.

After the meeting, Japan and the United States are scheduled to hold a higher-level policy meeting in August to reach a conclusion on the beef trade issue.

Japan has banned American beef imports since the United States detected its first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, in a cow in the state of Washington last December.

The United States is seeking to resume beef trade with Japan at an early date. Japan was the biggest beef export market for the United States before it imposed the ban.

To remove the import ban, Tokyo has been asking Washington to test all slaughtered cattle for the disease or provide equivalent safety assurances. Washington maintains that blanket testing is unscientific.

Participants in the talks include Peter Fernandez, associate administrator of the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Takashi Onodera, professor of agriculture at the University of Tokyo.