November 26, 2007

 

South Korea, Canada launch new talks on beef trade

 

 

South Korea and Canada have began talks in setting new import conditions that could result in the lifting of Seoul's four-year ban on Canadian beef, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said Friday (November 23).

 

Though there were no agreements reached in the two-day session, both sides have agreed to hold more talks to work out outstanding differences.

 

Seoul banned Canadian beef in May 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was reported in the country. Before the ban, Canada was the fourth-biggest exporter of beef to South Korea, behind the US, Australia and New Zealand. In 2002, it exported 16,400 tonnes worth US$37.4 million.

 

According to Kim Chang-seob, South Korea's chief veterinary officer, the talks centred on Ottawa's latest preventive measures against mad cow disease and Seoul's study results on Canada's safety conditions.

 

The official also said that Seoul outlined import conditions it can accept, hinting a limit on age that can be butchered for export to South Korea, and hold onto some restrictions for certain specified risk materials (SRMs) that can be imported.

 

SRMs, including tonsils and intestine parts, run the highest risk of transmitting the deadly disease to humans.

 

Canada has officially said it wants South Korea to lift all restrictions on beef imports, as recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in late May.

 

The OIE gave Canada a "controlled risk" classification regarding cases of mad cow disease, which technically allows it to export all beef parts with the exception of certain SRMs.

 

The talks come in the wake of another failed trade talks between South Korea and the United States in mid-October.

 

Washington has been insisting on the lifting of all restrictions, while Seoul said it wants to hold onto the 30-month-old age limit and the ban on certain SRMs.

 

South Korea and the US reached a revised sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) pact in January 2006, and customs inspections resumed in late April of this year. All US beef imports, however, have been halted since last month due to the discovery of backbones in one shipment.

 

Officials said there will be no further American beef imports until a new SPS deal is signed.