Japan says US beef talks not yet in final stage. Tokyo has edged closer to a possible resumption of US beef imports after expert-level talks with the United States, but there is still some way to go, Japanese Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said on Friday. [News Source]

County Extension Office: Beef is safe. The Clarke County, Alabama Extension Office says the American beef supply is safe from bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [News Source]

US to press Japan to reopen beef market. US trade negotiators have pledged in an annual report to press Japan to reopen its beef market "as soon as possible" and to expand the age limit on cattle eligible for imports to 30 months from the currently agreed 20 months. [News Source]

Japan in no rush to reopen market to U.S. beef. Japan is in no hurry to reopen its market to U.S. beef ahead of the prime minister's trip to the United States, Japanese officials said Friday, even as Washington's commerce chief insisted the meat is safe. [News Source]

Gutierrez stresses safety of American beef. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez repeated the U.S. position Friday that American beef is safe from mad cow disease and urged Japan to lift its import ban. [News Source]

Georgia in running for CDC-like center at UGA. The state of Georgia entered Friday what promises to be an intense competition to land the federal government's proposed next generation biological and agriculture defense facility. [News Source]

Local sites pushed for defense lab. The state of Georgia has proposed two Athens sites as potential spots for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, a research and development lab that would study potential pandemic diseases such as bird flu, as well as biological or agricultural threats that could be used in terrorism. [News Source]