Although expressing some concerns, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef has welcomed reports that the Japanese Government and the US Government are moving closer to reaching an agreement on the conditions to reopen the Japanese market to US beef.

"While we are confident and pleased that Japan will reopen its market to US beef, we are concerned that it will be a lengthy and expensive process before US beef processors regain their market share lost when Japan halted imports in 2003," said John Stewart, CEO and founder of Creekstone Farms.

"While we continue to believe that US beef is safe, current opinion polls in Japan tell us that the Japanese consumer prefers the additional layer of confidence offered by testing every animal processed for that market.

"It is our hope that the US Department of Agriculture will recognise the overwhelming public support and importance of allowing companies like Creekstone Farms to voluntarily test all of our production because of these customer demands," added Stewart. "This testing will be done at our own expense and passed on to the consumer," he added.

He also noted that Australian beef producers now have an 85% market share (compared with 20% before Japan closed to the US) and are not going to give it up without a fight.