Visiting U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez pushed Japan Friday to reopen its market on U.S. beef imports, which has been closed in January after a shipment with risky parts was discovered.

"We have the world's safest food supply," Gutierrez was quoted by Kyodo News as saying at a breakfast meeting in Tokyo, "we just want the opportunity to demonstrate that we can deliver the best beef in the world with the right qualification and right standards as Japan requires."

On Jan. 20, Japan re-imposed a ban on U.S. beef imports after a backbone part, prohibited under a bilateral agreement, was found in a shipment.

That halt in trade came only a month after Japan eased a two- year ban on U.S. beef from December 2003, after the first U.S. discovery of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Japan used to be a major U.S. beef market. In 2002, Japan imported 1.7 billion U.S. dollars worth of beef from the country.

During his two-day working visit in Japan, Gutierrez met with his Japanese counterpart Toshihiro Nikai on Thursday and the two ministers pledged to work more closely to defend intellectual property.

Gutierrez also said on Friday that Washington will promote tourism to attract more Japanese visitors.

Source: Xinhua