S. Korea blocks U.S. beef after banned parts found
02 Aug 2007 14:39:59 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds U.S. trade official comment in paragraphs 11-12) By Kang Shinhye SEOUL, Aug 2 (Reuters) - South Korea effectively blocked all U.S. beef imports from reaching store shelves on Thursday after banned parts were found in a recent shipment, a move that could hinder the passage of a sweeping bilateral free trade pact. The discovery of unauthorized animal parts in a July shipment, including spinal material, comes as the United States pushes for a full reopening of what once had been the third-largest overseas market for its beef. Seoul ended a 3 1/2-year ban last month on U.S. beef that was prompted by a 2003 outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States, allowing in boneless U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months old. But South Korea announced on Thursday it was stopping quarantine inspections of the U.S. product, meaning beef sitting in warehouses would be prevented from reaching store shelves. It will now decide whether to ban American beef altogether. "South Korea will decide whether to ban U.S. beef imports after seeing if Washington takes sufficient measures. We will ban it if the measures are not enough," Kim Chang-sub, an agriculture ministry official, told reporters. South Korea will stop all U.S. beef imports and return shipments that are waiting for inspection if the country decides to ban the product. U.S. beef can be shipped to the country but cannot be brought to market until Seoul lifts the suspension of the inspections. Industry experts said it is unlikely any U.S. beef packer would risk sending meat at this time because of these measures. SPINAL MATERIAL U.S. lawmakers have said they may not approve a free trade deal, the biggest for Washington in some 15 years, if Seoul does not completely open its market to U.S. beef. The South Korean agriculture ministry said it found spinal material in a box of an 18.7-tonne shipment of U.S. beef imported on July 29. The beef from a Cargill plant has been returned and Seoul has banned beef from that plant, Kim said. "U.S. beef which is sold now in South Korean stores is safe as it already passed through inspection," he added. U.S. officials insist the beef was safe and would not have been a problem if Seoul would impose more permissive import in line with a new risk rating for U.S. beef from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). "The real solution is that there should be an adoption of OIE-consistent import protocol," said Steve Norton, a spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab. This is only the latest in a series of setbacks in U.S. efforts to see those guidelines put in place. South Korea has found bones and chips in other shipments, which led it to suspend imports from certain packers and return the product. Last week, a South Korean animal quarantine committee held off on a decision to open the market wider to include U.S. beef on the bone, with members saying they were not sure if U.S. packers could abide by safety rules Seoul deems necessary. South Korean consumers have shown they want U.S. beef, which sells for about half the price of similar cuts of the domestic product, by quickly snapping up American meat at supermarkets. But farmers and activists, a key voting block for a presidential election this year, are pressing to go slow. The United States once accounted for more than two-thirds of South Korea's beef imports at about $850 million a year. (With additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Seoul and Christopher Doering and Missy Ryan in Washington)
