S.Korea seeks more U.S. data on latest mad cow case
March 28, 2006
Reuters
SEOUL - South Korea wants more data from the United States about its latest case of mad-cow disease but Seoul will still stick to its planned resumption of U.S. beef imports, South Korean agriculture officials said on Tuesday.
The agriculture ministry pushed back by a few weeks its planned date to resume imports of U.S. beef to late April or early May after Washington confirmed a new case of mad cow disease earlier this month.
South Korea's agriculture minister told parliament the United States had sent a sparse amount of data to prove the latest outbreak took place in an animal that was born before the United States enacted measures several years ago aimed at stopping infections.
"The U.S. needs to more scientifically prove the infected cow was at least 10 years old," Park Hong-soo was cited as saying in parliament by the ministry.
The age of the animal is significant because one of the two major safeguards against mad cow disease -- a ban on using cattle parts in cattle feed -- began in 1997 and started to be effective in April 1998. Scientists say mad cow can be spread through infected cattle feed.
U.S. officials have said a dental examination of the Alabama cow identified as the third U.S. case of mad cow disease showed the animal was at least 10 years old, meaning it was born before the 1997 feed ban was implemented.
"The U.S. sent us a report, including photos of the infected cow's teeth, but we want more concrete information," Lee Yang-soo, a ministry spokesman told Reuters by telephone.
Lee said, however, there is no change in Seoul's plan to resume imports of U.S. beef.
One of South Korea's preconditions for the resumption was an inspection tour of U.S. slaughter houses and beef packers but that tour has been delayed. The ministry said no date had been decided.
South Korea, once the third-largest export market for U.S. beef, banned imports from the United States in December 2003 after the first case of the disease was reported.
Under a deal Seoul struck with Washington in January, South Korea will only allow imports of beef from cattle aged under 30 months, and then on condition that parts it regards as risky, such as ribs, be removed prior to shipping.
