The first shipment of U.S. beef since Japan reimposed a ban in January over fears of mad cow disease arrived Monday at Narita airport.

The importer of the approximately 5.1 tons of beef was Costco Wholesale Japan Inc., the Japanese unit of U.S. Costco Wholesale Corp., which has five outlets in Japan.

Costco officials said customers may be able to buy the beef at its outlets later this week, after the meat goes though quarantine checks.