Beef News
Japan denies progress made in beef trade talks
by Brendan O'Neill on 8/31/04 for
Meatingplace.com
After reports last week that U.S. and Japanese trade officials were
making progress in negotiations regarding opening Japan's border to U.S.
beef, a top Japanese official denied such progress had been made.
Last Thursday, Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman told
reporters that the three rounds of meetings Japan and the United States
held in late July were going fairly smoothly.
"We have concluded out of those technical discussions that we will move
forward with an arrangement with the Japanese where they will not
require testing of all ages of animals," she said.
"That is not factual," Mamoru Ishihara, vice minister of agriculture,
forestry and fisheries, said in a news conference after hearing
Veneman's remarks.
"We have not yet determined what to do with Japan-U.S. negotiations,
including setting a schedule for further talks," said Ishihara.
He added that the government is awaiting results of discussions by
academics at the government's Food Safety Commission, an advisory panel
which determines the safety of domestically consumed beef.
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