March 8, 2007

South Korea to resume imports of US boneless beef
 

South Korea has agreed to resume only the import of boneless US beef after a six-month halt over the discovery of bone chips in recent shipments.

During the bilateral agricultural talks in Washington on Tuesday (March 6), Assistant Agriculture Minister Min Dong-seok told Richard Crowder, chief agricultural negotiator with the US Trade Representative's Office, Seoul will resume only import of boneless US beef.

But South Korea will only return beef in which bone chips are found. Crowder reportedly said he had no objection to the new measure.

Since Seoul halted the import of US beef last year, Washington has demanded that Seoul should permit the import of beef on the bone. However, a bilateral agreement to resume beef imports last year specified only boneless meat. The Korean government apparently made the decision because it expects the US to intensify pressure on Korea to open the beef market in free trade talks.