Japan's position on restricting US beef imports over mad cow disease hasn't changed, after the countries agreed to continue talks on the issue.

"At the moment, unfortunately, there's some distance between Japan and the US, like a parallel line," Japan's Agriculture Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu told reporters after a meeting with US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Tokyo Thursday (Apr 8). "To overcome this difference, there is no objection to continued dialogue," Akamatsu said.

Japan was the largest buyer of US beef before the restriction, and because of that, the US beef industry is losing about US$1 billion a year in sales, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

President Obama's administration has been increasing pressure on Japan to reopen its market to US beef as part of a goal to double the country's exports in the next five years to spur growth and create jobs.

"For us, food safety based on Japan's scientific standards is the priority," Akamatsu said. "The OIE standards are different from the Japanese scientific ones."

An OIE vote in May 2007 gave US a "controlled-risk" rating for mad cow disease, which meant controls are effective and meat from US cattle of any age can be safely traded. OIE standards are used to settle trade disputes at the World Trade Organization.

Japan was the third-largest destination for US beef last year, with trade totalling US$470 million, up from US$383 million in 2008, according to the US Meat Export Federation. That compares with US$1.39 billion in 2003.