June 5, 2006

US beef faces obstacles re-entering South Korean market

The re-opening of US beef exports to South Korea has hit a snag despite a promised return of US beef in early June.

The primary bone of contention is that South Korea does not want a "systems approach" to allow in US beef, but rather wants to pick and choose individual U.S. plants that it will accept beef from, said an USDA official.

South Korea want to be able to ban specific beef processors that have been shut out of trade with other countries for safety-related problems, which USDA officials say is not a science-based approach.

A prime example would be that of Hong Kong, which has stopped accepting imports from three US beef plants since it eased its ban in December 2005. All three were de-listed from its list of eligible exporters due to the discovery of bone fragments in their shipments.

US beef exporters want a clear understanding of how South Korea plans to deal with the bone-chip issue before trade resumes, Lynn Heinze, a spokesman for the US Meat Export Federation, said.

US companies are also concerned about the difficulties of getting themselves back on the list of after they have been de-listed. 

Like Hong Kong, South Korea has agreed to lift its ban only on boneless cuts of US beef.

USDA officials say officials tend to take the term "boneless" too literally, adding that "zero tolerance" is not possible.

Tolerance of a minimal amount of bone fragments is allowed in trade between US, Mexico and Canada due to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The US beef industry is calling for similar arrangements to be made for the Hong Kong and South Korean markets.