June 11, 2007

US to resume issuing beef export certificates for South Korea

The US Department of Agriculture will resume issuing certificates to US exporters, allowing them to ship beef to South Korea now that the Asian country has repealed what was effectively a new ban, USDA officials said Friday (Jun 8).

Two beef plants owned by Tyson Foods and two owned by Cargill remain shut out from South Korea, USDA Deputy Under Secretary Chuck Lambert said.

South Korea halted US beef exports earlier this week after inspectors there discovered products that did not meet the country's strict requirements. That beef, produced at the Tyson and Cargill plants, was designated for domestic consumption and never meant for export, Lambert and USDA spokeswoman Terri Teuber said.

Lambert said that 38 shipments of US beef that had been under quarantine in South Korea will now be released and allowed into commerce.

USDA's Teuber said the department's officials are working hard to explain to South Korea that the erroneous beef shipment was not the fault of Tyson or Cargill, but rather of an export broker that sent the wrong products.

USDA on Wednesday took partial blame for the mix-up because its employees signed off on inspection certificates "without verifying that that product met Korean requirements," Lambert said on Wednesday.

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.

Lambert said Friday that now that South Korea has resumed importing US beef, the two countries can begin talks again to lift South Korea's restrictions on trade, paving the way for even more beef exports.