December 29, 2006

South Korea threatens to ban US beef again

South Korean legislators talked tough on Wednesday, warning to reinstate a ban on US beef imports if Washington continued to insist on easing quarantine inspection standards.

If the US Congress continued to press with the beef quarantine issue, it would be regarded by the South Koreans as an infringement on their sovereignty, said a statement signed by 17 South Korean lawmakers.

Hwever, some US officials think otherwise. Chuck Lambert, the USDA's deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programmes termed the statement insignificant saying the US negotiators were not directly dealing with South Korean lawmakers on the issue. He also indicated that Seoul never truly lifted its ban on US beef. This, he said was obvious by the three rejections in recent months of US beef shipments.

South Korea, which resumed imports of US beef after a three-year ban due to mad cow fears, has rejected three shipments of the American meat in recent months after bone fragments were found in them in violation of a bilateral agreement that requires Seoul to import only boneless US beef.

Incidentally, South Korea reported detecting excessive amounts of dioxin in the last US shipment.

The beef issue has emerged as one of the major hurdles in talks between South Korea and the US on a proposed free trade agreement.

Though there have been reports that South Korea had agreed to discuss the beef issue with the US, Lambert said the two sides had yet to set a date.