The United States will send a team of scientific experts on mad cow disease to Japan next week to discuss with their Japanese counterparts ways to resolve a 16-month import ban on U.S. beef at the earliest possible date, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer said Monday.
The move is viewed as the latest effort by Washington to entice Japan to speed up its domestic process for lifting its ban on American beef amid mounting voices from U.S. lawmakers to slap economic sanctions on Japan.
The team of experts will "try to answer any other questions that the Japanese might have on scientific grounds for continuing this ban," Schieffer said.