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USDA/Packers Segregate Canadian Beef for Korea

A

Anonymous

Guest
While I agree with USDA allowing Korea to do this--Whats really sad is that the USDA/Packers have segregated and labeled Canadian beef for the Japanese, and now will for the Koreans- but still say they can't and refuse to do it for the US consumer..... :( :mad:

DJ S Korea Officials Arriving In US Thu For Beef-Plant Audits



Agriculture Online

2:43 PM, August 24, 2006

By Bill Tomson

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES



WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A South Korea delegation is scheduled to arrive in

the U.S. on Thursday and begin a new review of several U.S. beef production

facilities on Friday in efforts to restart trade, U.S. Department of

Agriculture officials said.



South Korea listed problems with seven U.S. plants after a previous

delegation conducted audits in May, but the country's concerns have been dealt

with, said USDA officials who asked not to be named.



South Korea complained that six U.S. plants didn't segregate U.S. and

Canadian cattle
and one U.S. plant didn't use separate equipment to cut up

younger and older cattle.



A misunderstanding was the root of the cattle-segregation issue, one USDA

official said. The U.S. plant in question had a plan to segregate the cattle,

but did not have it in place because it wasn't yet allowed to begin exporting

beef to South Korea. Now, though, the company will demonstrate to the visiting

delegation its segregation plan even though it is not in effect yet.




"Middle ground" was reached on South Korea's demand for separate equipment

for older and younger cattle, a USDA official said, but would not elaborate on

details.



The South Korean delegation is visiting the seven U.S. plants to verify that

promised changes have indeed been made.



South Korea and the U.S. agreed to terms for trade to resume earlier this

year, but U.S. beef exports are still blocked. South Korea originally banned

U.S. beef in December 2003 after the USDA announced finding the first case of

bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in the U.S. South Korea

imported about $815 million worth of U.S. beef in 2003, according to USDA data.



There is another issue, outside of individual plant matters, that still has

South Korean and U.S. officials at odds. The U.S. wants South Korea to agree on

a tolerance level for any small bone fragments in U.S. shipments, but South

Korea has resisted.





-By Bill Tomson; Dow Jones Newswires



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