Korea reviews US beef ban
November 29, 2005
New Zealand Herald
Reuters
SEOUL - South Korea, facing US pressure to follow neighbouring Japan, is due to decide today whether to lift a ban on American beef imports imposed at the end of 2003 after a case of mad cow disease.
A Government agriculture official said South Korea, previously the No 3 export market for US beef, could resume imports in the first half of next year if a key committee cleared American beef on safety grounds.
Japan, once the top importer of US beef, also has a ban, but opened the way for a likely resumption of imports last month.
South Korea's animal quarantine advice committee will decide whether to resume US imports.
"If experts agree that there is no problem with American beef, we have to lift our ban," Chang Ki-yoon, deputy director of the Agriculture Ministry's livestock bureau said. "But at this time, it is too close to call whether the committee will decide US beef is safe."
A top US trade official said earlier this month that the US and South Korea could announce plans to begin talks on a free trade agreement in the next few months.
But US Trade Representative Rob Portman said several issues needed to be worked through first.
New Zealand expects its share of the South Korean beef market will remain strong even if US exports resume, a Meat and Wool NZ spokesman has said.
Since the ban was put in place, the New Zealand share of the market has jumped from 8 per cent to 40 per cent.
