Japan and the United States began two days of high-level talks in Tokyo on Thursday in which the two countries are expected to confirm their goal of lifting Japan's import ban on American beef by next spring.
On the first day of the senior officials' meeting, the Japanese side said Tokyo has started the process of reviewing its policy of testing all cattle for mad cow disease, officials said.
Japanese officials told their U.S. counterparts that the Food Safety Commission is studying whether to exempt cows aged 20 months or younger from testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and that it is likely to be next spring or later when Japan will relax conditions for mad cow testing.