Monday marks the beginning of negotiations between South Korea and the United States to begin lifting South Korea's two-year ban on imports of American beef.

The two-day meeting in Seoul is not expected to lead to an immediate reopening of what was once the third-largest market for U.S. beef after Japan and Mexico

The first shipment of U.S beef in nearly two years arrives in Japan Friday after the easing of an import ban put in place amid concerns of mad cow disease.

Meanwhile, an agricultural organization says Japanese beef exports to the U.S. would resume shortly. Japanese beef was also banned four years ago over the same concerns

The federal Centers for Disease Control announced Monday that a British man has been diagnosed with the human form of mad cow disease -the second documented U.S. case of the illness.

Health officials say the man most likely contracted variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United Kingdom. However, he began to show symptoms while living in Houston, so he will be listed as a U.S

U.S. officials are taking steps to lift mad cow-related restrictions on Canadian cattle.

The Department of Agriculture says it plans to propose a rule in the next six to eight months, eliminating all remaining restrictions associated with the disease

Authorities ban 1,856 pounds of beef that were shipped to wholesalers in a half-dozen states under rules designed to protect consumers from mad cow disease

The beef included meat from a Canadian cow that inspectors in Canada determined was eligible for shipment to the United States. A Canadian audit two weeks later found, however that the cow was too old to be allowed entry to the U.S., The Associated Press reports