A
Anonymous
Guest
Korea to Delay Lifting Ban on US Beef Import
The Korea Times
07-04-2006
South Korea
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea will put off lifting its ban on U.S. beef owing to insufficient measures by American meat processors to ensure product safety, an agricultural official said Tuesday.
The official, who declined to be identified, said Washington had forwarded set of changes it will make at meat processing facilities, but experts here are uncertain if such steps are adequate. Seoul’s reluctance to accept the changes will effectively put off the import date of American beef till after July.
“The proposal calls for meat processors to clean tools used to cut cattle older than 30 months old and those below this age,” the official said. He stressed this is not a fundamental solution to possible contamination that may occur.
South Korea has maintained a ban on U.S. beef since late 2003 after a made cow case was confirmed there. It agreed to lift the ban early in January after conducting on-site inspections.
The inspections in May, however, only highlighted shortcomings Seoul wants to resolve before allowing U.S. beef back into the country.
The problems cited by Seoul are facilities that butcher foreign cows along with those raised in the United States.
In addition, while most of the 37 facilities examined had two or more butchering lines and tools to carve meat, a few had only one to process animals aged 30 months or younger.
The butchering of foreign animals is an issue since South Korea currently only allows beef from Australia, New Zealand and Mexico into the country.
times.hankooki.com
The Korea Times
07-04-2006
South Korea
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea will put off lifting its ban on U.S. beef owing to insufficient measures by American meat processors to ensure product safety, an agricultural official said Tuesday.
The official, who declined to be identified, said Washington had forwarded set of changes it will make at meat processing facilities, but experts here are uncertain if such steps are adequate. Seoul’s reluctance to accept the changes will effectively put off the import date of American beef till after July.
“The proposal calls for meat processors to clean tools used to cut cattle older than 30 months old and those below this age,” the official said. He stressed this is not a fundamental solution to possible contamination that may occur.
South Korea has maintained a ban on U.S. beef since late 2003 after a made cow case was confirmed there. It agreed to lift the ban early in January after conducting on-site inspections.
The inspections in May, however, only highlighted shortcomings Seoul wants to resolve before allowing U.S. beef back into the country.
The problems cited by Seoul are facilities that butcher foreign cows along with those raised in the United States.
In addition, while most of the 37 facilities examined had two or more butchering lines and tools to carve meat, a few had only one to process animals aged 30 months or younger.
The butchering of foreign animals is an issue since South Korea currently only allows beef from Australia, New Zealand and Mexico into the country.
times.hankooki.com