February 23, 2010
South Korea beef imports drop 12%
In 2009, South Korea imported a total of 197,857 tonnes of frozen and chilled beef, down 11.7% from 224,147 tonnes in 2008.
This statistic is based on beef imports subject to national quarantine inspection. This is the first drop since 2004, when beef imports reached 132,869 tonnes, half of 293,606 tonnes in 2003. The sharp drop back then was attributed to the ban on US beef imports after the discovery of a BSE case in Washington State.
The decline in 2009, however, was caused by quarantine inspections that were resumed since June 2008 after lifting the ban on US beef imports, despite the expectations that imports would rise after the ban was lifted.
It was speculated that public concerns over US beef safety after the 2008 mad cow disease outbreak as the main factor for the drop of imports. South Korea imported 49,973 tonnes of US beef in 2009, down 6.2% from 53,293 tonnes imported in 2008.
