September 5, 2007

South Korea revokes Swift beef exports permit over discovered ribs

South Korea has cancelled the trade permit of a US beef processing plant Swift & Co., after finding another shipment containing banned ribs which are included as one of the "serious risk materials" (SRM) under its current guidelines, the South Korean government said Tuesday (September 4).

Agriculture officials said ribs were found in a 17.9-kilogramme package out of the 15.5-tonne shipment, which had been awaiting quarantine inspection in Busan since August 10.

Seoul had imposed a total ban on US beef imports after the confirmation of a case of mad cow disease in late 2003. It partially lifted the ban in 2006, allowing the import of boneless beef from cattle aged less than 30 months.

A ministry official said the all the cargoes were sent back to Swift, adding the ban on the company will stay until Seoul and Washington agree on new guidelines. While a full resumption of US beef to South Korea this year is expected, the trade has been corrupted as South Korean authorities still discover SRMs on US beef exports.