April 27, 2007

US beef undergoing quarantine in South Korea

South Korea's first imports of beef from the US after a three-year ban are currently going through quarantine following its arrival at the Incheon International Airport on Monday, April 23.

The 4.5 tonne frozen shipment will take two to three weeks of thorough screening and is anticipated to hit the market shelves in May. Each box will be checked for bone fragments by x-ray, as well as other banned substances, such as dioxins and specified risk materials.

In a free trade agreement (FTA), South Korea will only return a batch which was found to contain banned bone fragments and not the whole shipment as was previously done.

The beef was shipped by Creekstone Farms in Kansas. The last shipment made by Creekstone in November last year was rejected due to the discovery of banned bone fragments.

The scare of mad cow disease has prompted South Korea to ban US beef three years ago. Although FTA between the two countries has been finalised on April 2, the US said it will not conform the agreement unless South Korea re-allows its entire market for American beef. Further talks on the issue are expected to commence in early May.