Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 4/7/10

Only days before hosting Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Japanese officials said they won't bend current restrictions on imports of U.S. beef, according to a report by Agence France Presse.

Vilsack departed Tuesday for Tokyo for a four-day visit during which he plans on discussing the two countries' long-standing dispute over beef trade.

Japan Agriculture Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu, however, was quoted as saying he "has no plan to ask the government's food safety commission to review U.S. beef."

"Asking for a review by the food safety panel would mean Japan was heading in the direction of changing its trade restriction," Akamatsu told reporters. "Honestly speaking, I don't expect to do so."

Akamatsu's comments contrasted the optimism that followed Vilsack's press briefing last week, when he said his team would take a diplomatic approach wherein Washington would not make demands of Tokyo in the hopes of making some progress on the issue.

Vilsack noted that the previous administration passed on an opportunity for expanded market access in Japan and instead demanded full reopening. That effort went nowhere.

Japan still limits imports of U.S. beef to product harvested from cattle younger than 20 months of age. 

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