That figure marks a plunge from the 22,000-25,000 tonnes of U.S. beef that industry officials say Japan was importing each month in 2003 before it imposed a ban following the discovery of a case of mad-cow disease in the United States.

Tokyo briefly lifted the ban at the end of last year, but closed its borders again about a month later in January when inspectors found forbidden meat parts in a U.S. shipment.

Japan imported about 41 tonnes of U.S. beef in December and 623 tonnes in January before the ban was reimposed.

Source: washingtonpost.com