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Japan may compromise on US beef imports

Reuters, Tokyo
Japan may be open to compromise on its suspension of US beef imports that has been in effect since December following the discovery of a case of mad cow disease, Agriculture Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei said Sunday.
The news came after Japan suspended imports of US poultry products following the discovery of a case of bird flu - a disease sweeping Asia - on a chicken farm in Delaware.
Washington has been pressing Japan to resume beef imports, but Tokyo has called for the introduction of tougher safeguards to match those in place in Japan, where all cattle are tested for the illness.
Asked on a Japanese television program about reports of a compromise, Kamei said he was not aware of the reports but that the most important thing was for
Japanese consumers to be able to eat beef with confidence.
When pressed about one measure - that all US beef heading for Japan should be tested by a third party - Kamei said: "That is one method.
"But we'd need to think about how it would be done and also work closely with food safety authorities."
Kamei reiterated that there was no change in Japan's basic stance that all U.S. beef should be tested.
"Japanese consumers won't buy U.S. beef unless this is done," he added.
Kyodo news agency quoted Japanese official sources as saying the governments of the two nations were considering a provisional measure to partly lift the ban.
They said the measure would apply to beef that had undergone voluntary private-sector inspec-
tions, after which the U.S. government would certify it as safe, adding that the two nations were aiming to reach an agreement sometime between April and June.
An official at the Agriculture Ministry said he was not aware of any government-level discussions on the matter.
"However, it's difficult to know what sort of discussions might be going on at the private level - say between different companies," he said.
Japanese officials have repeatedly said that consumer confidence could be eroded if the ban on US beef is lifted too soon.
Japan is the biggest foreign buyer of US beef, importing about $1 billion worth annually.
In the year ended last March, Japan imported 534,000 tons of beef, of which 240,000 tons was from the United States.