A Liberal Democratic Party policy panel gave the go-ahead Wednesday to lift the import ban on U.S. beef, with official government approval expected the following day.

During a meeting of the committee on quarantine and consumption safety, senior officials from the agriculture and health ministries explained their monthlong on-site inspections of 35 meatpacking plants, and eight related facilities or farms in the U.S. that ended Sunday.

Of the 35 meatpackers authorized in December to ship beef to Japan, one was not put on the approval list because the firm, which underwent a merger in June, had not completed its manual for shipping beef to Japan when it was inspected.