A Japanese panel finished a draft report Monday on reopening market to beef product from the United States and Canada by year end, a critical step toward settling an intense quarrel between Japan and the United States.

Beef and beef offal from the United States and Canadian cattle aged up to 20 months are at "very low" risk if materials that could transmit mad cow disease are properly removed, Kyodo News quoted the report as saying.

Japan's Food Safety Commission will put the draft report up for public discussion for four weeks before working out a final document, Kyodo said.

Japan slapped a ban on Canadian beef in May 2003 and on the US beef in December that year due to the finding of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

Before the ban, Japan was the largest US beef importer.

Japan was asking the United States to test every cattle before the exportation. The United States had been refused to do so.

The two countries reached an agreement about a year ago, in which Japan acceded to the resumption of import of beef from cattle aged up to 20 months at an early date without a blanket inspection.

However, Tokyo's caution of making a final decision has irked the United States. Some US lawmakers brought up a bill last week, asking the government to impose punitive tariffs on Japanese products by Dec. 31 if the beef trade can not be reopened by Dec. 15.

The issue also is expected to be high on the agenda at the summit meeting when US President George W. Bush tours Japan next month.

Source: Xinhua