MOAF Suspends Quarantine of U.S Beef

As it was discovered that the U.S. mistakenly exported to Korea beef processed for its own domestic market, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry suspended beef imports from the U.S. once again, after they were resumed in April of this year.

Citing the report of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, MOAF announced that 66.4t of U.S. beef imported at the end of May -15.2t from Cargill and 51.2t from Tyson – was confirmed to be originally destined for the domestic market.

As the NVRQS suspected that part of the shipment was indeed meant for the domestic market, MOAF recently requested that the U.S. check the facts.

The beef from Cargill was imported through the Busan Port on May 25, and after two boxes of ribs were found in the quarantine process, the shipment of beef was halted.

According to the U.S. government’s guideline, beef exporters are to export only boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age, subject to an export verification program.

Consequently, the Korean quarantine authorities sent the 66t of beef back to the U.S., and requested that the U.S. check whether the 220t of beef imported from the U.S. since autumn 2006 was not for its own domestic market.

During the period of investigation, quarantine on U.S. beef will be suspended.

The export of domestic product may be a mistake, but the Korean government does not rule out the possibility that a Korean importer received a fake quarantine certificate in collusion with a U.S. government official.

A Korean importer might have tried to import the U.S. domestic beef in an attempt to speed up the import process.

Kim Chang-sup, a MOAF official, said, “We will be able to understand the exact cause of this incident, only when the U.S. investigation is complete.”

However, there is very little possibility that the already imported U.S. beef (49t) was originally marked for the U.S. domestic market.

jarrett@donga.com