Vice Agriculture Minister Yoshiaki Watanabe voiced doubt Monday over the effectiveness of safety measures announced by Washington last week in the wake of the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.
"They are not as effective as the ones being implemented in Japan," Watanabe said.
The U.S. measures include banning all "downer" or sick cattle from being used as food for humans.
The safety package, announced Dec. 30 by the U.S. Agriculture Department, also includes prohibiting "high risk" tissues contained in the head and spinal column of cattle 30 months or older from being used for human consumption.
The agriculture ministry will dispatch two officials to Australia and New Zealand from Jan. 7 to 14 to study the feasibility of expanding beef imports from these two countries.
On Dec. 26, Japan banned imports of U.S. beef and processed beef products after tests confirmed the mad cow disease case found in Washington state.
Meanwhile, the agriculture ministry said it will step up its scrutiny of product-labeling to prevent importers and retailers from falsifying the country of origin.