South Korea says to resume US beef imports
April 26, 2006
Reuters
SEOUL - South Korea will stick to a plan to resume U.S. beef imports after the government confirmed that the latest U.S. case of mad cow disease was in an animal born before safeguards were put into place, the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday.
Safeguards against mad cow disease, such as a ban on using cattle parts in cattle feed, began in April 1998. Scientists say the disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can be spread through infected cattle feed.
A South Korean team of experts verified the infected U.S. cow was at least 8 years old after traveling to the United States to inspect its carcass, the ministry said in a statement.
"We will send final inspection teams soon to review U.S. slaughter houses and beef packers, and this process will take a couple of weeks," Chang Ki-yoon, deputy director of the ministry told Reuters by telephone.
He could not give a firm date for when shipments would start, although he said it would not be possible to resume them in May.
One of South Korea's preconditions for a resumption of imports was an inspection U.S. slaughter facilities.
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. Since then, two more cases have been found, the latest in Alabama.
Seoul announced in January it would resume importing U.S. beef in late March but progress toward re-opening its market slowed after the third case of the disease.
Under a deal Seoul struck with Washington in January, South Korea will only allow imports of beef from cattle that are less than 30 months old, and then on condition that parts it regards as risky, such as ribs, be removed prior to shipping.
