Japan beefs up plans to resume US cow imports  By Paul Basken
February 21, 2005  Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura,
meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, has
promised to move quickly on removing his country's remaining
obstacles to resuming imports of US beef.  "The United States
wants to shorten the duration, and we promised that we will make
an effort," Hatsuhisa Takashima, spokesman for the Japanese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said after talks in Washington at
the weekend between Mr Machimura and Ms Rice.  Japan halted
purchases of US beef in December 2003 after the US found a case
of mad cow disease. The return of US beef to the valuable
Japanese market would affect Australia's beef exports, which
have expanded in Japan since the US ban.  According to Meat &
Livestock Australia, if only small amounts of beef are allowed
back into Japan and Korea, Australian beef exports will rise 9
per cent in volume this year to 995,000 tonnes, a new record.
Exports to Japan, Australia's larg