Tokyo will not resume imports of US beef until Washington comes up with a convincing explanation of how it allowed banned material to be shipped to Japan and proposes clear guidelines to ensure there are no further mistakes, Japan’s agriculture minister said.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Shoichi Nakagawa said: “It is very simple. The US and Japan had already agreed upon a programme for beef imports and it was the US side that violated that accord. They must elucidate the cause and come up with a regime to prevent a reoccurrence.”