January 10, 2006

South Korea, US start talks on beef

On Jan 9, South Korea and the US began a two-day talk on lifting South Korea's two-year ban on US beef imports.

However, the Seoul meeting is not expected to lead to an immediate re-opening of what used to be the third largest market for US beef after Japan and Mexico.

However, one issue likely to dominate the discussions will be on whether South Korea should resume imports of beef ribs, which make up more than 60 percent of American beef imports before the ban.

South Korea says for now it will only consider importing boneless meat, citing concerns that material inside the bones could be dangerous to consume.

In 2002, South Korea imported 213,000 tonnes of US beef worth US$610 million, according to the US Meat Export Federation. It halted US beef imports in December 2003 after the first reported US case of mad cow disease.

Australia and New Zealand have taken over as the leading beef exporters to South Korea.