Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday the government will not rush to decide whether to lift a ban on U.S. beef imports following confirmation that an American cow infected with mad cow disease was born in Alberta, Canada.
"We have to look into the matter in detail before making a judgment (over the import ban). We will wait for a report from a fact-finding team, which leaves for the United States on Thursday," Fukuda said.
Earlier Wednesday, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Wednesday it will dispatch a fact-finding team to the U.S. and Canada to gather information about the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S.