South Korea to ban beef imports from countries with new BSE cases

 

 

South Korea plans to automatically ban beef imports from countries that report a new outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease.

 

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries recently outlined an updated action plan to better protect the public from harmful meat, said parliamentary sources on Friday (Nov 27).

 

Under the measure, the government will gather a livestock quarantine consultation committee to determine the exact health risks in case of a new BSE case.

 

An outright ban can be implemented if the risk is seen as serious, but the country can choose to restart quarantine inspections if the problem is seen as being minor, said the sources.

 

The new plan is a revised version of the livestock epidemic prevention law that has been criticised for being vague.