Japan will send a mission to the United States next month to gather information on the country's first case of mad cow disease, a senior farm ministry official said Thursday.
"We would like to send a mission in January," Yoshiaki Watanabe, vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, told a news conference.
The ministry has yet to decide a specific schedule, but the mission is expected to visit cattle ranches and other related facilities in the state of Washington, where the case surfaced, ministry officials said.
On Tuesday, the United States announced the discovery of its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease as the brain-wasting disease is popularly know, prompting Japan, South Korea many other countries to halt U.S. beef imports.
U.S. agricultural authorities said a cow was found with symptoms of BSE on Dec. 9.
The Japanese farm ministry plans to send experts on cattle and sanitary supervision after it receives more detailed accounts on the case from the U.S. authorities, the officials said.
Meanwhile, farm-related panels of the Liberal Democratic Party agreed the same day that Japan should not readily resume imports of U.S. beef until the Japanese public is firmly assured of the safety of U.S. beef products.
Even if Washington demands that Japan resume imports of U.S. beef at an early date, Japan should take a "firm stance" on the issue, one LDP lawmaker said.