By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has agreed to resume talks on reopening its market to U.S. beef, agriculture minister Hirotaka Akamatsu said on Thursday after meeting his U.S. counterpart Tom Vilsack.
Akamatsu quoted Vilsack as saying the Obama administration is willing to take a more flexible approach on the issue.
No specific schedule or details had been decided on how to resume talks, Akamatsu said.
Vilsack said in a statement there was a commitment for further talks on restrictions that cost the U.S. beef industry about $1 billion a year in exports.
"Given the importance of a candid exchange of views regarding import conditions for U.S. beef and beef products based on science and international standards, we both underscored the commitment of our respective governments to continue discussions," he said in the statement.
"This issue remains a high priority for the United States and the U.S. objective remains a framework that is consistent with science and international standards," Vilsack said.
Japan is sticking to restrictions imposed on U.S. beef imports since 2006, limiting them to meat from cattle aged 20 months or younger, while the U.S. stresses the safety and quality of its beef, Akamatsu said. U.S. exporters say the 20-month age restriction has no basis in science.
Washington has pushed Japan to scrap all age restrictions and negotiations have been virtually deadlocked since mid-2007, when the last face-to-face talks were held.
The U.S. aims to persuade Japan to eventually fully reopen its beef market, but Akamatsu said he had the impression it was open to other options at this point.
BREAK IMPASSE
"The U.S. said it wanted Japan to also be flexible and asked to move discussions forward, and I said Japan also agrees to the need for such talks to break the impasse," Akamatsu told reporters after the meeting.
"The most important issue is for Japanese consumers to feel confident that U.S. beef is the safest -- otherwise, imports will not increase even if we provide more opportunities," Akamatsu said.
Industry sources said the U.S. could conduct inspections for beef exported to Japan to respond to Japanese consumer wariness, while Japan could relax the age restrictions to 30 months.
"As a marketing strategy to have its beef accepted, the U.S. should meet the Japanese request that beef exported to the Japanese market be inspected thoroughly, while Japan should take that as a precondition and ease the age limit," said Nobuyuki Chino, president of Tokyo-based trading company Unipac Grain.
"The issue should be resolved in a way that is beneficial for both Japanese consumers and American producers," he said.
Vilsack is in Japan this week to promote U.S. farm exports to Japan, the world's largest net food importer.
Japan was also the biggest export market for U.S. beef until mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was found in the U.S. in December 2003, prompting Tokyo to impose a ban.
Vilsack's visit is the first to Japan by a U.S. agriculture secretary since 2001, the U.S. Meat Export Federation said.
Japanese public concerns about U.S. beef remain, given that some cow body parts banned by Japanese import regulations have been found in beef shipments from the U.S. in the past.
The U.S. is the biggest exporter of agricultural products to Japan, accounting for nearly one-third of Japan's agricultural imports.
(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton in Washington)
