BEEF NEWS
Korea not likely to resume imports of U.S beef this year
by John Gregerson on 8/19/2005 for Meatingplace.com
South Korea is likely to delay the resumption of U.S. beef imports due to a lack of relevant technical information, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The Korean government has requested information from the United States about the second U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy discovered in June, but it has not yet arrived, ministry officials said.
"The government plans to convene a meeting of animal disease experts to decide on the resumption of beef imports, but the meeting has been postponed due to a delay in the arrival of the requested information," MOAF official Kim Chang-sup explained. "We expect the information soon, but it may take several months for the government to make a decision on whether to reopen the market. We will ask for additional documents if the information doesn't contain enough data to ensure the safety of U.S. beef."
