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US not close to resuming beef exports to Seoul-USDA
WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - The United States does not expect to resume beef exports to South Korea anytime soon, an Agriculture Department spokesman said on Monday, with a lot of work to be completed before the ban will be lifted. South Korea's agriculture minister said earlier on Monday Seoul could push back its plan to resume U.S. beef exports from later this week to next month because U.S. beef processing facilities did not meet standards suggested by the South Korean government. "We had not planned on anything for this week" despite the reports, said Ed Loyd, a USDA spokesman.
"We're still very involved in the negotiations for what the final agreement is going to look like. We have a lot of work to do yet," he added. South Korea, once the third-largest market for U.S. beef, banned imports after the United States discovered its first case of mad cow disease in December 2003. Seoul had said last month it would resume U.S. beef imports on June 7 after it announced a list of approved beef processors.
Loyd said the United States was not discouraged or frustrated with South Korea over beef trade talks that have been underway for several months.
He would not offer a timetable for when beef shipments to South Korea would resume, but said the USDA is "expeditiously" providing Seoul with additional information as the two countries work through "a whole wide-range of issues regarding beef trade."
A pact between the two countries in January would have allowed imports of U.S. beef from cattle less than 30 months to resume, and then only on condition that parts it regards as risky, such as ribs, are removed prior to shipping.
But progress to lift the ban slowed after the United States reported its third case of mad cow disease in March.
As part of the agreement to restarting beef trade with the United States, South Korean inspection teams examined U.S. beef packing and slaughtering facilities to make sure they were following mad cow safety procedures.
The United States has struggled to restore beef exports to overseas markets, including South Korea and Japan, that totaled $3.8 billion annually before mad cow was first discovered.
WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - The United States does not expect to resume beef exports to South Korea anytime soon, an Agriculture Department spokesman said on Monday, with a lot of work to be completed before the ban will be lifted. South Korea's agriculture minister said earlier on Monday Seoul could push back its plan to resume U.S. beef exports from later this week to next month because U.S. beef processing facilities did not meet standards suggested by the South Korean government. "We had not planned on anything for this week" despite the reports, said Ed Loyd, a USDA spokesman.
"We're still very involved in the negotiations for what the final agreement is going to look like. We have a lot of work to do yet," he added. South Korea, once the third-largest market for U.S. beef, banned imports after the United States discovered its first case of mad cow disease in December 2003. Seoul had said last month it would resume U.S. beef imports on June 7 after it announced a list of approved beef processors.
Loyd said the United States was not discouraged or frustrated with South Korea over beef trade talks that have been underway for several months.
He would not offer a timetable for when beef shipments to South Korea would resume, but said the USDA is "expeditiously" providing Seoul with additional information as the two countries work through "a whole wide-range of issues regarding beef trade."
A pact between the two countries in January would have allowed imports of U.S. beef from cattle less than 30 months to resume, and then only on condition that parts it regards as risky, such as ribs, are removed prior to shipping.
But progress to lift the ban slowed after the United States reported its third case of mad cow disease in March.
As part of the agreement to restarting beef trade with the United States, South Korean inspection teams examined U.S. beef packing and slaughtering facilities to make sure they were following mad cow safety procedures.
The United States has struggled to restore beef exports to overseas markets, including South Korea and Japan, that totaled $3.8 billion annually before mad cow was first discovered.