The big problem in Japan was/is their mishandling of BSE. When they announced their first case it became apperant the gov't was trying to make it disappear.

The general Japanese public never had a favorable impression of their own beef, excepting the Kobe of course, but that is really a seperate market all to its own.

When the legal option to shut the US imports off, the Japanese gov't saw an opportunity to help their own industry try to recover some respect. 100% testing was adopted there for domestic cattle because people were so suspicious of the system in place. They didn't handle the situation like Canada did, which bolstered consumer confidence here.

The border issue with the US will have repercussions to their domestic industry. If they open too soon, they could force their own producers out of business. If they play on any inconsistancy in the US system, they look better to their own public that they are concerned about safety ahead of economics.

By moving slowly from the 100% testing and "studying" everything, they will at some point be able to re-introduce US beef without hurting their own production. Key to this will be them finding fewer and fewer domestic cases of BSE, and the US not finding (m)any more.

Politics at its finest.