Japan is set to agree on a resumption of U.S. beef imports, suspended for five months due to concerns about mad cow disease, when senior officials of the two governments hold talks later on Tuesday, Japanese officials said.
Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said earlier on Tuesday that senior Japanese government officials will hold talks with their U.S. counterparts later in the day about Japan resuming imports of U.S. beef.
A health ministry official said the talks, to be held by video conference, will start later Tuesday. U.S. beef has been shut out of Japan, previously the top export market with trade worth some $1.4 billion in 2003, since January when Tokyo reimposed a ban following a violation in safety guidelines agreed between the two countries.
That ban came just a month after Tokyo lifted an earlier ban on American beef imposed in December 2003 after the United States discovered its first case of mad cow disease.
Beef has been a thorny issue in relations between Japan and its closest ally, but the latest moves come shortly before Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi leaves for talks with U.S. President George W. Bush on June 29 in Washington.
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party also approved on Tuesday an agriculture ministry plan for the resumption of U.S. beef imports after inspections of U.S. processing plants are completed, a ministry official said.
