WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Two influential U.S. senators said Monday they hope Japan will make some "positive announcement" toward lifting its 15-month-old import ban on U.S. beef when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Japan this week.
Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and ranking member Max Baucus expressed the hope at a news conference after meeting with Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Ryozo Kato to call for the quick lifting of the ban to prevent it from leading the U.S. to consider imposing economic sanctions.
Kato told reporters separately that he reiterated that Tokyo cannot set a timetable because it is waiting for the outcome of ongoing deliberations by the independent Food Safety Commission on whether to resume imports of U.S. beef. In Tokyo on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda repeated this stance.