February 23, 2005

 

 

South Korea, US to hold talks over ban on US beef

 

South Korea and the United States will hold their first working-level meeting next week to discuss Seoul's ban on the import of US beef that was imposed in late 2003, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said Wednesday.

 

The talks will deal with the safety of American beef after the discovery of mad cow disease in the US and the timetable for allowing US beef back into the market, it said.

 

Government officials as well as private veterinary and health experts are expected to participate in the meeting scheduled for Monday.

 

Since Japan is moving to allow US beef back into the country by this summer at the earliest, it will be hard not to start talks on this matter, he said.

 

Seoul maintained that it would ensure that safety of US beef and domestic consumer confidence will be main considerations for opening the market.

 

Tokyo has effectively agreed to restart imports of US beef, and Washington has announced it will recommence the import of beef from Canada where the mad cow disease is seen to have originated.

 

In addition, a decision by the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris, better known by its French acronym OIE, to limit countries from placing excessive bans on imports of fresh red meat, has to be considered.

 

The announcement of a mad cow disease case in December 2003 caused many countries to ban US beef imports but concerns have started to abate, with import bans being lifted.

 

US beef accounted for 68 per cent of South Korean beef imports in 2003. In that year, South Korea imported 199,443 out of 293,653 tons of beef from the United States.

 

Government policymakers said talks have been held with cattle industry representatives and civic groups to take into account their views, and that there is a need to build public consensus on this matter.

 

They said it is currently too early to say for certain when US beef will be allowed back into the market.

 

Despite such efforts, domestic cattle ranchers are expected to oppose any moves to import US beef.

 

They argued that in the case of Japan, the country had a reported case of mad cow disease, but the same is not true for South Korea. They added that Seoul must ascertain the safety of US beef and that if the country bows to US pressure on this matter, a broad campaign will be waged to prevent such action from being taken.