June 22, 2006

USDA to review seven beef plants on South Korean concerns

The US Department of Agriculture will review production practices at seven US beef plants in order to quell concerns raised by South Korea after its own inspectors complained of "deficiencies," USDA officials said.

South Korea has essentially accepted the system of regulations that US producers have agreed to in order to qualify for export to South Korea, USDA officials said on condition of anonymity. But seven individual US plants were pointed out as problematic by South Korea.

"We will review their corrective measures" after the US beef plants make any changes to appease South Korea, one USDA official said.

The issues raised by South Korea, such as making sure Canadian cattle are not used for beef exports and using dedicated equipment on meat for export, are minor and USDA is working with those plants to remedy the problems.

Some of South Korea's complaints, though, are "debatable," one USDA official said, and stressed that talks continue.

South Korea recently conducted a two-week audit of 37 US beef processing plants to see first hand if they met the country's standards. South Korea has pledged to initially only reopen its market to boneless cuts.

South Korea banned US beef in December 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was discovered in the US. Before the ban, the US exported US$815 million of beef to South Korea in 2003, according to USDA data.