WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman ended a meeting here Wednesday without discussing concrete steps toward lifting Japan's ban on imported American beef.
Instead, the two officials could only vaguely agree to cooperate in their efforts to restore consumer confidence in U.S. beef products, damaged by the country's first case of mad cow disease.
After the talks, Nakagawa said it is important for both countries to move forward "step by step" without rushing to resolve the problem, while Veneman said the talks were productive but "did not get into specifics."