April 30, 2007

South Korea assures no BSE contamination on US beef shipments

The government of South Korea said Friday (April 27) has assured US beef shipments which arrived last week were free of bone chips, parts that were believed to be the source of spread the dreaded bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The South Korean National Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service made the announcement in a statement after inspecting the beef, which arrived Monday. South Korea banned US beef after BSE was discovered in the United States in December 2003.

The statement also said the government would continue to conduct "thorough inspections" of US beef imports to ensure the meat's safety.

BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, is believed to be transmitted when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. It is linked to the rare but fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease found in humans.

South Korean beef farmers and activist groups have strongly opposed any moves to allow US beef back into the country, stating it "unsafe" to consume. Washington, on the other hand, has called those fears "unfounded" and has pushed hard for the resumption of imports.

In a free trade agreement, Seoul said it would continue to ban US beef containing bones or bone fragments, but agreeing to reject only individual boxes containing problem beef, rather than the entire shipment as before.

Lee Jong-kyung, president of NERP Corp., the importer of the first US beef shipment, said the approval which was done on Thursday (April 26) could send the products to some restaurants this week.

The beef will be released after customs procedures are completed, which is expected to take about two days, Kang Moon-il, the head of the quarantine service.

Kang said that another shipment of US beef arrived in South Korea on Thursday but the batch will be required for an 18-day inspection as it came from a meatpacker in Iowa that sent the December shipment which included the banned dioxin.