South Korea to lift ban on British meat

South Korea will lift the ban on British poultry and pork, with imports likely to resume as early as mid-February, according to officials of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Monday (Jan 26). 

The officials said the ministry had recently drawn up plans to lift the ban after evaluations deemed the products to be safe.

South Korea banned British poultry products in February 2007, following reports that the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain was detected on a turkey farm. South Korea also banned UK pork products after an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in August 2007.

The Agriculture Ministry said the British government had asked to resume its meat trade, following its classification as a ''clean'' nation by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).