Fettered by the slow pace of changing the rules for testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, imports of American beef into Japan will probably not resume for at least another four or five months.

Mounting U.S. pressure and calls from gyudon beef bowl restaurant chains here have done little to speed the process of changing health and farm ministry ordinances, which now stipulate the mandatory testing of every head of cattle for BSE.

Officials now say they don't expect the revised ordinances to take effect until at least next spring, opening the door to renewed U.S. beef imports.

Adding to the difficulties is the large gap between the two countries in determining the age of cattle, a major hurdle in the revision process.

Because a proposed rule change would exclude cattle younger than 21 months from blanket testing, Japanese negotiators are insisting on a system for precisely determining the age of the animals.

Under the U.S. system, birth records are not kept on every head of cattle.

Officials initially expected beef imports to resume by year-end, but various delays have pushed the target date back.

Opposition has forced the government to postpone submitting proposed BSE testing changes to the Food Safety Commission for deliberation.

The submission, originally planned for Wednesday, was put off until today after a ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel that met Tuesday was inundated with calls of protest.

Although the government plans to open senior working-level talks with Washington soon after the proposal is submitted, agreement on specific terms will have to wait until the commission issues its recommendation.

That is not expected to happen until late November, as the commission is obliged to hear from the public on the issue.

The farm and health ministries also plan to solicit opinions, which means their revised ordinances will not be released until late this year or early in 2005. The ordinances will then not go into effect for another two or three months after that.(IHT/Asahi: October 15,2004) (10/15)