TAIPEI (Kyodo) -- Taiwan has announced a plan to end its restriction on the age of cattle for imports of Japanese beef that has been in place due to concerns over mad cow disease following an outbreak in Japan in 2001.

Under current regulations, Japanese beef must be derived from cattle aged 30 months or younger. Taiwan had banned imports of Japanese beef altogether until 2017.

The plan was unveiled by Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration Tuesday and reported by local media the following day. The body will gather opinions from the public during a 60-day review period before officially deciding to lift the restriction.