December 22, 2006

South Korea finds excessive dioxin in US beef

South Korea said it found excessive traces of dioxin in a US beef shipment it had returned, but does not plan to ban imports, an agriculture ministry official said Friday, Dec 22.

According to the ministry, a 10.2-tonne shipment that arrived on Dec 1 had 6.26 picograms of the carcinogen dioxin, above the ministry's limit of 5 picograms.

The ministry spokesman however, ruled out the possibility to ban US beef imports due to the latest discovery.

South Korea, once the third-largest importer of US beef resumed beef imports after banning it for nearly three years following BSE outbreak on the condition the US would only send boneless beef and from cattle up to 30 months of age. It has so far rejected three US shipments after discovering bone fragments in them, sometimes as tiny as grains of rice.

The rejection has led to a heated war of words between the leaders of the two countries and has disrupted the ongoing FTA talks. While South Korea does not want the issue to be discussed at the sidelines of FTA negotiations, US has been insisting on the same.

The rejection has maddened US diplomats and agriculture officials who feel South Korea was looking for excuses to toy with trade.

Though the two countries have all the ingredients for good relations, in the mid and long term. But in the crucial short term, relations have been slipping worryingly, experts said.