May 18, 2007

South Korea's parliament drafts safeguard measures over US beef exports

Members of Seoul's parliament have submitted bills to tighten safety nets on beef and other agricultural imports following fears of spread of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy and other related illnesses with the entry of US beef in the South Korean market.

The proposals would require all restaurants and school cafeterias to serve beef and rice with country-of-origin labels; ban genetically modified food from school fare; prohibit the use of beef raised on offal; and eliminate the use of offal in feed production for cattle, deer and other similar animals.

Representative Kang Ki-kap of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party said the government should at least guarantee consumers of the origin beef imports lest US beef imports will flood the market.

South Korean news agency Yonhap News reports food-hygiene standards are currently applied loosely in South Korea. Only 2.7 percent of the restaurants are required to use food ingredients marked with a country-of-origin label because the law applies only to those establishments whose square footage exceeds a specified level. Schools, meanwhile, are exempted.