A
Anonymous
Guest
Mr. Johanns-- Can you say BSE tested? Let Creekstone/etal offer them and Japan BSE tested....
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CN_Today 1/7/2007 12:02:00 AM
US Likely To Delay Beef Shipment Talks With S. Korea
SEOUL (AP)--The U.S. is likely to delay talks with South Korea on a dispute over Seoul’s rejection of U.S. beef shipments, an official said Sunday, as a survey showed more than a third of South Korean consumers associate U.S. beef with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, nicknamed “mad cow“ disease.
The two sides had planned to meet in Seoul Monday and Tuesday to discuss South Korea’s decision to turn back all three recent shipments of U.S. beef citing they contained banned bone fragments that Seoul fears could potentially harbor the disease.
The U.S., however, failed to send a list of its delegation to the talks as of Sunday, and the meeting is unlikely to take place as scheduled, said Leen Sang-kil, a director-general of South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry.
“I think they expect little progress from the talks,“ Lee said. “I think it’s going to be delayed.“
South Korea, formerly the third-largest foreign market for U.S. beef, shut its doors to U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after the first reported U.S. case of the disease.
It agreed to resume imports last year on a limited basis - boneless meat only from cattle younger than 30 months old - on the grounds that some material inside bones could be dangerous to consume and the younger animals are safe from the disease.
Imports resumed in October, but U.S. beef has never reached South Korean consumers because quarantine authorities rejected all shipments that have arrived so far for containing tiny bone fragments. They ranged in length from 3 millimeters to 22 millimeters.
U.S. officials had been expected to ask South Korea to lower its quarantine standards in next week’s talks.
South Korea is firm in its position that bone is bone even if it is a tiny fragment.
Consumer sentiment in South Korea about U.S. beef has been negative because of “mad cow“ concerns.
A recent survey of 1,213 housewives showed that 35% of them associate U.S. beef with the disease, with about 70% responding negatively to a question if they have intentions to buy U.S. beef, according to the Yonhap news agency.
The ministry-commissioned survey was conducted in November-December, but officials in charge of the poll were not available for comment Sunday.
In a similar survey in July, more than 70% said they would not buy U.S. beef even if imports resumed.
Scientists believe “mad cow“ disease spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. The cattle disease is also believed to be linked to the rare but fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease found in humans.
Source
ow Jones Newswires
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CN_Today 1/7/2007 12:02:00 AM
US Likely To Delay Beef Shipment Talks With S. Korea
SEOUL (AP)--The U.S. is likely to delay talks with South Korea on a dispute over Seoul’s rejection of U.S. beef shipments, an official said Sunday, as a survey showed more than a third of South Korean consumers associate U.S. beef with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, nicknamed “mad cow“ disease.
The two sides had planned to meet in Seoul Monday and Tuesday to discuss South Korea’s decision to turn back all three recent shipments of U.S. beef citing they contained banned bone fragments that Seoul fears could potentially harbor the disease.
The U.S., however, failed to send a list of its delegation to the talks as of Sunday, and the meeting is unlikely to take place as scheduled, said Leen Sang-kil, a director-general of South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry.
“I think they expect little progress from the talks,“ Lee said. “I think it’s going to be delayed.“
South Korea, formerly the third-largest foreign market for U.S. beef, shut its doors to U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after the first reported U.S. case of the disease.
It agreed to resume imports last year on a limited basis - boneless meat only from cattle younger than 30 months old - on the grounds that some material inside bones could be dangerous to consume and the younger animals are safe from the disease.
Imports resumed in October, but U.S. beef has never reached South Korean consumers because quarantine authorities rejected all shipments that have arrived so far for containing tiny bone fragments. They ranged in length from 3 millimeters to 22 millimeters.
U.S. officials had been expected to ask South Korea to lower its quarantine standards in next week’s talks.
South Korea is firm in its position that bone is bone even if it is a tiny fragment.
Consumer sentiment in South Korea about U.S. beef has been negative because of “mad cow“ concerns.
A recent survey of 1,213 housewives showed that 35% of them associate U.S. beef with the disease, with about 70% responding negatively to a question if they have intentions to buy U.S. beef, according to the Yonhap news agency.
The ministry-commissioned survey was conducted in November-December, but officials in charge of the poll were not available for comment Sunday.
In a similar survey in July, more than 70% said they would not buy U.S. beef even if imports resumed.
Scientists believe “mad cow“ disease spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. The cattle disease is also believed to be linked to the rare but fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease found in humans.
Source