US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday urged Japan to remove a ban on US beef as soon as possible, while the Japanese side still refused to offer a timetable.

Rice told reporters, in her meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura she raised concerns on the US side about the ban on US beef imports.

"American beef is safe. we care greatly about food security and safety in the US and about food security and safety of our trading partners. I urged the minister to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," she said.

Earlier, in a speech at the Sophia University, she noted, "The time has come to solve this problem."

Japan slapped a sweeping ban on US beef since the first mad cow��case was reported there in December 2003.

A Japanese panel is determining whether to exclude animals aged��up to 20 months from the current domestic blanket testing of all slaughtered cattle, which would pave the way for Japan to implement an agreement reached in October.

Some US lawmakers are demanding the government to impose economic sanctions if Japan continues its ban on US beef.

"We have to ensure the food security of our people in Japan, but we need to resolve the issue at an early stage," Machimura said.

The minister said that he told Rice Japan understands "the deep interest" on the US side, and is promoting an early solution.

Machimura said they also agreed to strengthen discussions on the Japan-US alliance and speed up the US military realignment in Japan.

Source: Xinhua