November 9, 2006

US to negotiate with South Korea again on beef trade

The US is preparing to discuss with South Korea once again over ambiguities in the county's import restrictions on US beef that are stunting trade, according to US government officials.

Richard Crowder, chief agriculture negotiator for the US Trade Representative, said Wednesday a US delegation will travel to Seoul "in the next several weeks".

The goal, he told Dow Jones Newswires after a Wednesday (Nov 8) meeting with US Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, is to allow US beef exports to flourish.

Creekstone Farms is so far the only US packer that has risked sending beef to South Korea since the country eased its ban on Sep 8. The company sent nine tonnes of beef to South Korea and is still waiting to see if it passes inspection.

South Korean Ambassador to the US Lee Tae-sik said Tuesday he expects the Creekstone shipment to go through inspection without any problems, though he did agree that there are still beef trade issues that need to be resolved between the countries.

The USDA will play a significant role in the upcoming US delegation to South Korea, and USDA agencies have been ordered to put together a team, one USDA official said on condition of anonymity.

The USDA sent a letter to South Korean officials last month expressing concerns that the country's beef restrictions are preventing a "commercially viable" environment. The September letter, which still has not been responded to, complains that South Korea considers silver skin, a membrane separating muscle groups, cartilage and some bone material, to be specified risk material--parts of a cow believed to transmit the BSE disease.

South Korea's view of specified risk material subjects US exports to "suspension or any other detrimental action".

The US sent a delegation to South Korea in late September after it was becoming clear that the reopening of South Korea's market was not spurring US packers to ship beef there. The delegation was not successful in its efforts, and South Korea insisted it maintained the option to destroy or send back shipments of US beef.