October 3, 2007

 

South Korea to draft recommendations on US beef imports

 

 

The livestock quarantine consultation committee in South Korea is expected to make its recommendation on current US beef import regulations this week, the government said Tuesday (October 2).

 

The committee plans to meet on Friday (October 5) to expound in the safety of US beef as well as its trade liberalisation and reviewing its import regulations.

 

The Korean Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said once a formal recommendation is received, it can begin discussions with US officials to change the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) conditions.

 

The committee has met twice since July, but progress has been halted due to the discovery of backbones and beef ribs that temporarily caused an import ban on all American beef in August.

 

The present SPS standards drawn up in January 2006 only permit boneless beef from cattle under 30 months old to be imported. This ruling bans the import of beef ribs that accounted for roughly 60 percent of American beef shipments before the ban went into effect in late 2003.

 

A ministry source about 10 experts representing the government, university professors, livestock and consumer groups will attend the meeting. Though non-binding, the recommendations can help policymakers formulate negotiation strategies.

 

Government officials have hinted that while Seoul may permit ribs and other bone-in-beef products to be imported, the incapability of the United States to track its cattle effectively and problems in processing meat may prevent all beef parts from being imported.

 

Specified risk materials (SRMs), including head bones, brains and spinal cord may not be allowed into the country. SRMs are blacklisted because they pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to humans.

 

The US, meanwhile, has officially asked Seoul to rewrite its import rules after the US received mad cow "controlled risk" status from the world animal health organization in late May.

 

This classification by the World Organization for Animal Health technically allows the US to export most non-SRM meat parts.

 

Lawmakers in the US have said that they will not ratify the free trade agreement signed between the two countries on June 30 unless Seoul first allows the sale of American beef ribs in South Korea.