November 27, 2007

South Korea to widen cattle tracking system in late 2008

South Korea will broaden its nationwide cattle and beef tracking systems starting late next year, the government said on Monday (Nov. 26).

The country's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said the programme which has been in place since 2004, is expected to enhance consumer rights by providing better and wider information. Full-fledged tracking of animals and meat can also help authorities handle animal-related diseases that can affect public health and consumption.

The new system, passed by the National Assembly last week, will include time and place of birth of animals, transfers and sales, butchering and general movement of meat through the distribution chain. Cattle farms, packaging firms and retailers that fail to update information will be subject to fines and other administrative actions, according to the ministry.

A ministry official said the expansion will reduce concerns of consumers from animal diseases existing locally and abroad as comprehensive information on cows and beef will already be provided. He added in the past

mad cow disease reports caused consumers to stay away from all beef because there was no way to tell where the meat came from.

Local cattle farmers have been pressing the government to introduce nationwide tracking systems for some time for consumers to do an easy track whether the meat came from locally raised premium hanwoo cows or from abroad. Farmers fully welcomed the system's expansion due to the expected influx of cheap meat imports with the country's ratification of free trade agreements.

Currently, Seoul is engaged in talks with the United States and Canada to rewrite its beef import rules that may allow more beef parts to be imported.

Korea opened its market to American boneless beef early this year while maintaining its ban on all Canadian beef that has been in effect since 2003.