U.S., Japan beef talks resume

TOKYO (AP)--Japanese and U.S. officials on May 17 began two days of talks on a survey of the U.S. meat-packing industry, as Washington seeks a re-opening of the Japanese market to U.S. beef imports.

Chuck Lambert, U.S. undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, headed a team of agriculture officials meeting with officials from Japan's foreign, health and agriculture ministries at the Foreign Ministry.

Japan banned the meat in January over bovine spongiform encephalopathy worries, and the U.S. officials are in Tokyo hoping to re-start talks on lifting the ban.

However, Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said May 16 that Japan wants to review the survey results first and get answers to its questions about the 37 meat-packing plants authorized to ship to Japan before starting talks on re-opening its market.

"We anticipate replies to our unanswered questions about the reliability of the (inspection) system the U.S. and Japan agreed upon," said Assistant Vice Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Michitaka Nakatomi as the meeting began.

"I'm here to answer any additional questions about our findings and determine when and how trade will resume," Lambert said in reply.

Meanwhile, responding to media reports that Tokyo would resume imports before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's planned U.S. visit in June, a government spokesman said that politics shouldn't govern the decision.

"The main premise is to assure public safety and security. The issue should not be influenced by any political agenda," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Jinen Nagase told reporters.

Japan initially shut its profitable market for U.S. beef in December 2003 after the first discovery of BSE in the U.S. The ban was eased in December 2005 to allow the import of meat from cows 20 months old or younger.

But in January, Japanese customs officials found spine bones--which Tokyo considers at risk for the disease--in a shipment of American veal, and the market was closed again.

Since then, the U.S. conducted an investigation into the faulty shipment and submitted a report to Japanese authorities. Tokyo, however, had additional questions that it wants answered before reopening the market.

Japan was once the most lucrative overseas market for U.S. beef, buying some $1.4 billion of the meat in 2003.

Date: 5/24/06

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