Both those goals became more elusive in the wake of last week's fresh Japanese halt to U.S. beef imports following the discovery of spine bones, material Tokyo has banned as risky for mad cow disease, in a package of American veal.

Now, instead of cajoling reluctant Japanese officials into widening the categories of beef eligible for import, visiting American officials are busy serving up apologies - and getting met with an unusual stream of public criticism from their Japanese counterparts.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe was typical on Monday in a statement ahead of a meeting with visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick.

''The U.S. had a duty to firmly observe the conditions for resuming imports, and it is regrettable that this duty was not observed,'' Abe declared. ''The U.S. needs to firmly investigate into the cause of why this duty was not observed.''

Abe emphasized his point by announcing that the government ordered inspections of all stocks of U.S. beef imported over the past month, and said imports would not resume until Washington had explained the mishap to Tokyo's satisfaction and come up with preventative steps.

Prospects weren't looking much better on the consumer front.

Earlier polls suggested that most Japanese had deep reservations when the government partially lifted a two-year-old ban on American beef imports last month, and the newest flap may only strengthen that reluctance.

The newest setback extinguished a mood in meat industry circles that was downright festive in December, when Tokyo eased a ban imposed in late 2003 after the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S. herd.

The embargo had shut down a $1.4 billion market for U.S. beef producers, and the industry threw a series of public grill parties when the ban was eased. Every few days it seemed another American official was chewing a mouthful of rib-eye for the cameras.

From the American point of view, however, the agreement that reopened the market was not perfect: only meat from cows aged 20 months or younger could be imported, even though U.S. officials say the disease has never been found in cows under 30 months old.

Also excluded from the deal was material considered at risk for mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE: brains, spinal cords and certain bones, such as spinal columns.

Following a recent agreement with South Korea to open its market to American beef from the older cows, U.S. officials were stepping up efforts to get Japan to reconsider its restrictions - until last Friday.

Now the goal is to get Tokyo to allow any imports at all.