November 17, 2006

South Korea civic groups halt X-ray inspection of US beef

The South Korean ministry of agriculture and forestry Thursday, Nov 16 failed to conduct a public X-ray screening of the first batch of US beef due to protests from civic groups.

Though the ministry planned to X-ray the imported beef in an apparent bid to ease the concerns of South Korean consumers, the inspection process was stopped after 15 minutes because civic groups and an opposition lawmaker argued that an X-ray test for beef could be illegal.

According to an NGO chief, there was no domestic regulation that allowed for X-ray testing of beef. He added that the distribution of X-rayed beef without a revision of the law was risky.

The beef was part of the consignment that arrived in South Korea last month after the country resumed the import of US beef,  though allowing only boneless beef. A ban was imposed in December 2003 following the outbreak of mad-cow-disease.

The Korea Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights, a medical-pharmaceutical lobby group, has argued that there is no way for inspectors to detect specified risk material (SRM), including spinal cord, so the tests were not effective. SRMs are the animal parts most likely to contain the mad-cow-disease.

According to a source, the country would arrange for additional inspection by selecting samples.