Bush presses Japanese PM over beef trade dispute

WASHINGTON, Apr 27 (Reuters) President George W Bush pressed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today over a standoff over beef trade, telling the leader in an official visit that Japanese consumers should be eating US beef.

''I brought up to the prime minister that I'm absolutely convinced the Japanese people will be better off when they eat American beef,'' Bush, alongside Abe, said in a news conference.

''It's good beef; it's healthy beef. As a matter of fact, I'm going to feed the prime minister's delegation a good hamburger for lunch,'' he said.

US officials, along with the beef industry, have been pushing Japan to loosen its import rules on beef, hoping to rebuild a robust trade with the Asian nation. They want to see Japan accept meat from older animals and also seek an end to mandatory inspections of each box of beef.

US beef exports to Japan were about 1.4 billion dollar a year until 2003, when mad cow disease was discovered in the United States. For 2006, that figured stood at million.

REUTERS RJ PM2307