Japan pushes U.S. for explanation on beef
JAPAN - Japan said on Monday it would not resume U.S. beef imports without an explanation of how banned spinal material, believed to carry a high risk of causing a human form of mad cow disease, came to be found in a shipment of U.S. meat last week. The two countries' top farm officials, Japanese Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, will discuss U.S. beef imports by telephone at 9:30 p.m. Tokyo time (1230 GMT) on Monday, Japanese farm officials said.Source: Reuters