The question of whether to lift the import ban on U.S. beef is being closely watched, especially in terms of how it relates to another issue of high public interest -- when will people be able to eat "gyudon (beef bowls)" again?
A report issued July 22 by a joint Japanese-U.S. panel showed some signs of a compromise forming between the two countries. In the report, the two sides agreed that blanket testing of all slaughtered cattle, which has been mandated in Japan since the first outbreak of mad cow disease here in 2001, is technically limited at detecting the accumulation of abnormal prions in young cows.
The United States meanwhile offered to provide government certification ensuring the elimination of high-risk cow parts, such as brains and spinal cords, from American beef. However, there remains a basic gap between Japan's basic stance of prioritizing meat safety in the inspection process, and the U.S. stance of moving away from rigorous inspection and more toward general surveillance of mad cow disease.