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Korea Blocks Beef...............Again

Oldtimer said:
No there is no FTA-- only a proposal......
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C'mon OT, don't try to twist things. While YOUR congress hasn't ratified the FTA, you and I both know that beef was part of the discussions between your two countries. How do we know? Because it was reported in the bloody newspaper and trade magazines! Remember? No FTA without our beef?

What I find odd though are all those bone fragments that keep being found. I can't believe that someone would be dumb enough to ship a whole box of vertebral columns, so what kind of game are the packers up to?

Rod
 
CHICAGO, Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. agricultural conglomerate Cargill Inc. is investigating how beef containing banned parts was shipped to South Korea, which was prompted on Thursday to effectively block all U.S. beef imports.

"Cargill understands that a 37.6-pound (17 kg) box in a shipment of 41,128 pounds of beef labeled beef chuck eye roll contained one piece of bone-in short loin. The product was packaged at Cargill's beef plant in Friona, Texas," Cargill spokesman Mark Klein said in an e-mail.

South Korea currently accepts only boneless U.S. beef as protection against mad cow disease, but had been considering allowing imports of bone-in beef.

In addition to its own investigation, Cargill is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and South Korea as they conduct their own investigations, said Klein.

Pictures on the Internet show a South Korean inspector holding a large section of vertebra with some partial rib bones attached.

The vertebra in the Internet pictures was removed from the short loin, said Klein.

"That is why it appeared the way it did. The short loin was shipped with the bone in and would be what T-bone steaks come from," he said. "We hope to resolve this matter quickly so that quarantine inspections can resume."

The inspections, which have been halted, are required before imported beef can be sold in South Korea.

Previously, South Korea has rejected some U.S. beef for allegedly containing bone fragments, which led it to suspending imports from certain beef plants.

U.S. cattle prices traded lower at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday and Thursday partly in reaction to rumors, and later confirmation, that shipments were halted.

"I would expect it to be temporary," Andrew Gottschalk, analyst at HedgersEdge.com., said of South Korea's action. "No one does this on purpose. It could be something as simple as a bar code misread,"

Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a fatal brain disease in cattle, and scientists believe humans can get a similar disease by eating certain parts from infected cattle.

The United States reported its first case of mad cow disease in December 2003, prompting South Korea and many other countries to ban U.S. beef.

Only recently have those countries lifted those bans, but have restricted purchases to boneless beef or from cattle of certain ages.

Before the U.S. mad cow case, South Korea was the third largest export market for U.S. beef.
 
The US said beef is in the korean FTA, FTA hasn't been radified, if you say it isn't a deal yet. OK they should not accept any US beef until it is a done deal. But the koreans were being good trade partners and now the deal they signed and negociated by a US official supposedly isn't worth the paper it is written on. Can any country trust anything your goverment officials sign? The lesson here is no agreement signed with the US is a done deal until the cogress approves it. So the koreans should not accept any shipments of US beef until the FTA is radified. That is what i would do. force the hand of the US.
 
QUESTION said:
The US said beef is in the korean FTA, FTA hasn't been radified, if you say it isn't a deal yet. OK they should not accept any US beef until it is a done deal. But the koreans were being good trade partners and now the deal they signed and negociated by a US official supposedly isn't worth the paper it is written on. Can any country trust anything your goverment officials sign? The lesson here is no agreement signed with the US is a done deal until the cogress approves it. So the koreans should not accept any shipments of US beef until the FTA is radified. That is what i would do. force the hand of the US.
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Settle down, Q. The Koreans know what processes have to be gone through in our government. Maybe Congress shouldn't ratify it until Korea accepts our beef?

Frankly, I don't blame the Koreans at all. They're just giving what they got. The USDA wouldn't listen to them on BSE testing and told them they would take what we wanted to give them or there would be problems, so they're just dishing it right back. What comes around goes around.
 
RH the difference is that the US is being told after being asked many times. The koreans are telling your packers if a tiny little fragment of bone is found the entire shipment lot will be rejected. Some people say the koreans are being unreasonalbe, but it is their sandbox and if you want play you have to follow their rules.
 
Q, "but it is their sandbox and if you want play you have to follow their rules."

Interesting you would say that after voicing your dissatisfaction with our COOL laws. :wink:
 
Sand H in all reality i have no influence on your COOL program even though it is a screwed up idea. The US can and will do what ever it wants. Do I as a candian have any right to market beef to the US. NO. Does the US have any right to come into canada and buy oil, natural gas or electricity. NO. All i say about COOL it is a joke from my view point and in canada i am allowed to express my view point any time any place i want to. As long as nobody is injured or threatened. My view is that COOL is nothing more than a marketing ploy to try to get the US customer to belive that US produce it the best and safest in the world. :roll: Now that is a tall order. Just something to consider the stew and chili recalled from walmart in canada for botulism poisoning came from the US . The same plant that makes human food ( chili and stew) makes dogfood. This is the same plant canning both products. GAG. i won't be buying any of that stuff from walmart. Who is the genius behing that idea yeah it is cost effective but human food and animal food being made int the same place . BARF sorry the thought just made me throw up in my mouth. Is this common place in the US a place making stew for human consumption one day then turning around and on another and putting ground up deadstock and offal thru the same machines for pet food. Isn't anyone waving the red flags that this might not be the best idea or even safe?
 
Q, I've talked to my USDA inspectors about making pet food out of my byproducts. The quick answer was that it had to be completely different facilities.
 
I checked it out same fax #, phone #, Adress and the dogfood company is listed as a division of the company manufacturing human food there isn't another canning facility in the same town. So it figures the canning goes on in the same building,so do they have seperate lines? I do not know. I am trying to find out if they are in the same building. It is like something from an cartoon ie) mommas brand babyfood a subsiduary of toxic chemicals mfg co. and nakmura bio hazard handleing co. It just doesn't leave a good feeling to know the same people that make pet food make human food. With all the stuff from Enron et al crooked unethical corperate executives,it just really makes on wonder,
 
Q, you do understand that the companies that turn your cattle into human food, also sell livestock and pet food! :shock: :roll: Better be careful who you associate with!!!! :shock: :o :shock:
 
RMac i have been in major packing plants while i was a co-manager of a feedlot in the past and yes i understand the packing industry(probably better than most). The processes are done in different buildings but then owned by the same company but here is the rub, at least up here the subsiduaries are segregated, not sharing office staff. I still haven't been able to find out if the canning line is the same for animal and human food. And when a company isn't willing to confirm or deny it, it gives me an uneasy feeling. I look at cargill in high river the plant is closed to the public and even most cattlemen. Does cargil make dog food yes,but it is off site , do they get hides tanned yes, but they ship it to china to get that done, do they collect bovine fluids for agar production yes but that is off site So yes carill is vertically intergrated and isn't just a canning company and yes they own other businesses to add profit but they ARE NOT making dogfood on the same site as human stew or chili. That sort of thing is just plain unsettling. To know a seconadary processor could make a mistake or not clean things perfectly and no wonder some of this canned stuff tastes so bad. Maybe i am seeing a potential problem that won't happen, but people one here keep on saying that the USDA is corrupt and inept. It just invites corruption for profit. After seeing this company has had food called back before because of bacterial contamination and this isn't the first case. This whole thing just does not install confidence.
 
Maybe this whole Korean issue is being overblown for the media.......both ours and theirs!

They actually are accepting and eating tons of USA beef.

Sure, things need to be tightened up and STOP the accidents getting complaints from them. Maybe something as simple as a distinctive box for beef destined for Korea, like no other boxes......and maybe large fines for failures, including fines or termination of employment of employees making such mistakes would end this ridiculous problem.

Then again, THE GOSPEL according to Johnny Smith, R-CALF director, is that "we don't need to export beef. Just close our borders to all imports of it". Guess he forgets that trade is global now, like it or not.

mrj
 
mrj said:
Maybe this whole Korean issue is being overblown for the media.......both ours and theirs!

They actually are accepting and eating tons of USA beef.

Sure, things need to be tightened up and STOP the accidents getting complaints from them. Maybe something as simple as a distinctive box for beef destined for Korea, like no other boxes......and maybe large fines for failures, including fines or termination of employment of employees making such mistakes would end this ridiculous problem.

Then again, THE GOSPEL according to Johnny Smith, R-CALF director, is that "we don't need to export beef. Just close our borders to all imports of it". Guess he forgets that trade is global now, like it or not.

mrj
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Maybe if the workers at the packers could read English....
 
mrj said:
Maybe this whole Korean issue is being overblown for the media.......both ours and theirs!

They actually are accepting and eating tons of USA beef.

Sure, things need to be tightened up and STOP the accidents getting complaints from them. Maybe something as simple as a distinctive box for beef destined for Korea, like no other boxes......and maybe large fines for failures, including fines or termination of employment of employees making such mistakes would end this ridiculous problem.

Then again, THE GOSPEL according to Johnny Smith, R-CALF director, is that "we don't need to export beef. Just close our borders to all imports of it". Guess he forgets that trade is global now, like it or not.

mrj
Click to expand...

What happens to the price of ALL live cattle in the USA if these markets are fully opened?
 

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