April 29, 2008

 

South Korea aims to fully open its beef market to the world

 

 

South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak said Sunday that South Korea will have to fully open its beef market to the US and all the other countries in the world.

 

Commenting on the recent policy to reopen its beef market to the US in a meeting with budget-related Cabinet ministers, Lee said it is in the right direction, adding that the final judgment (on the market opening) will be left in the hands of local consumers.

 

The government's role will be reduced to helping local livestock farmers upgrade their global competitiveness, he said.

 

Local farmers would have to be able to market high-quality homegrown beef in the face of massive imports of cheap foreign beef, said the president.

 

South Korean farmers have been known to stage violent protests in the past against the government's decision to open the local market to cheap imports.

 

Lee said he was impressed owners of large-scale cattle farms voicing confidence in the imminent foreign competition during his visit to a cattle farm last week.

 

Declaring that the only way for farmers to grapple with foreign competition is to upgrate the quality of their cattle, Lee said with higher incomes locally there would be steady demand for high quality  homegrown beef.

 

Meanwhile, the government and farmers groups joined hands Monday to crack down on country-of-origin mislabeling of beef sold in stores and served in restaurants.

 

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said 1,000 enforcement officials and volunteer monitors have been appointed to check for violations in restaurants and meat stores throughout the country.

 

The industry and authorities are acting to prevent unscrupulous sellers from selling imported meat as local meat to fetch higher prices. At the same time, they are also cracking down on restaurants and butcher stores who fail to notify consumers that the meat they are using is imported.

 

If a restaurant intentionally misstates the place of origin, owners could face fines of up to 30 million won (US$30,020) and jail time of up to three years. Those who sell disguise their meat as local beef would  be raised to under 100 million won (US$100,000) or a maximum prison term of seven years.

 

The crackdown comes amid promises by Seoul to enhance the labeling of all meat sold in stores and served in restaurants last week, after it agreed to open its market to most U.S. beef cuts including bone-in beef and various by-products.