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TOKYO, Dec 06, 2005 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Japan will ease its two-year-old ban on U.S. and Canadian beef next week, a move that could put American steaks on Japanese plates by the New Year, news reports said Wednesday, as the country's food commission prepared a report on the embargo.
The government had already indicated it would resume some imports with a go-ahead from the commission. Tokyo has sent Washington a schedule for easing the ban by Dec. 12, next Monday, the Asahi newspaper reported.
Similar reports also appeared in the Nikkei and Mainichi newspapers, and Kyodo News agency.
The Food Safety Commission on Thursday is to present its report stating that there is little difference in the risk of mad cow disease between North American and Japanese beef, said commission spokeswoman Akiko Hosokawa.
The commission's report will be presented to the Health and Agriculture ministries, which will then make their recommendations to the government, she said.
The U.S. has been pressuring Japan hard to lift the ban on beef imports. The ban was put into place in December 2003 after the first discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S. herd. Before then, Japan was the most lucrative overseas market for U.S. beef.
The ban is to be eased to allow the import of beef from American cows younger than 21 months old. No case of mad cow has ever been proven in animals of that age.
Both the Asahi and Nikkei newspaper said Wednesday that U.S. beef could reach Japanese consumers before the year's end once the ban has been removed.
The government had already indicated it would resume some imports with a go-ahead from the commission. Tokyo has sent Washington a schedule for easing the ban by Dec. 12, next Monday, the Asahi newspaper reported.
Similar reports also appeared in the Nikkei and Mainichi newspapers, and Kyodo News agency.
The Food Safety Commission on Thursday is to present its report stating that there is little difference in the risk of mad cow disease between North American and Japanese beef, said commission spokeswoman Akiko Hosokawa.
The commission's report will be presented to the Health and Agriculture ministries, which will then make their recommendations to the government, she said.
The U.S. has been pressuring Japan hard to lift the ban on beef imports. The ban was put into place in December 2003 after the first discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S. herd. Before then, Japan was the most lucrative overseas market for U.S. beef.
The ban is to be eased to allow the import of beef from American cows younger than 21 months old. No case of mad cow has ever been proven in animals of that age.
Both the Asahi and Nikkei newspaper said Wednesday that U.S. beef could reach Japanese consumers before the year's end once the ban has been removed.
