The Japanese government on Monday will lift the two-year ban on U.S. beef imports despite consumers' doubts that U.S. measures can eliminate the risk of meat tainted by mad cow disease, the Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday.

The Japanese newspaper reported government officials said once the decision is finalized Monday, importers will be allowed to start buying U.S. beef, making it available to Japanese consumers around the Christmas holidays.

The Cabinet Office's Food Safety Commission on Thursday is expected to report to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare that the risk of mad cow disease in the U.S. beef imports "is extremely low," the newspaper reported.

The government will allow U.S. beef only from cattle 20 months old or younger, as long as safety measures, including the removal of high-risk parts, are observed.

According to an Asahi Shimbun survey in late October, 67 percent of Japanese consumers said they would not eat U.S. beef if the ban is lifted.

Critics have said Tokyo's move to lift the ban despite such concerns shows that it is simply kowtowing to U.S. pressure.

Tokyo intends to reach an agreement on the beef imports with Washington by Sunday, government officials told the newspaper.

In fact, Japan already informed the United States about the resumption schedule for U.S. beef imports during working-level talks, and has unofficially concluded talks about the conditions for lifting the ban, the newspaper reported.

After the announcement is made Monday, the government will dispatch experts on animal quarantine and food hygiene to conduct safety checks at several unspecified meat-processing plants in the United States, the newspaper reported, quoting unnamed Japanese government officials.