June 7, 2007

 

USDA partially to blame for breach of South Korea beef trade rule

 

 

US Department of Agriculture inspectors were partially to blame for breaches of South Korea's restrictions on US beef that resulted in this week's trade halt, a USDA official said Wednesday (Jun 6).

 

The USDA has asked South Korea not to punish US beef producers for mistakes made by the inspectors and an export broker that resulted in boxes of beef meant for domestic consumption being sent instead to South Korea.

 

USDA spokeswoman Terri Teuber said the USDA hopes to hear from South Korea as early as Wednesday night.

 

The beef in question was produced by Tyson Food and Cargill, USDA Deputy Undersecretary Chuck Lambert said, but those companies never meant for the product to be exported. The problem, he said, occurred in a warehouse where the export broker included it in two shipments to South Korea. The broker, Lambert said, signed paperwork saying the product met South Korean requirements "when in fact it didn't".

 

But then, he said, the second breach in protocol came when USDA employees signed off on inspection certificates "without verifying that that product met Korean requirements".

 

Those USDA inspectors are now prohibited from working with beef exports, Lambert said.

 

Because of the breaches, South Korea asked the USDA to go back over all of the certificates for beef exports since trade resumed between the two countries in May. Lambert said the USDA has done so, except for one case of duplicate certificate numbers South Korea provided for verification.

 

South Korea banned US beef in December 2003 after the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was discovered here. US beef exports--limited to boneless product from cattle under 30 months old--did not resume until just last month.

 

The new halt in trade earlier this week came as both countries had just begun working to lift the boneless beef and cattle-age restrictions on US beef exports.