Gov`t moves to ease consumer fears over US beef

Korea will beef up quarantine checks on American beef imports following the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S. in six years. Certain discount store chains and department stores in Korea have also stopped selling the meat over consumer fears.

The U.S. Agriculture Department announced Tuesday that it had discovered a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, or more commonly known as mad cow disease, in a milk cow at a California farm. The department said what caused the disease was believed to be a mutation, not animal feed.

Washington, however, did not elaborate on when the epidemic was discovered and where the infected cow was raised.

In Korea, the Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry pledged to strengthen quarantine examinations of U.S. beef imports and requested detailed information from the U.S.

“Stopping quarantine inspections due to unconfirmed risks could cause trade friction,” said a senior ministry official.

The ministry also said the latest mad cow outbreak has a slim chance of negatively affecting public health in Korea. Yet it decided to strengthen quarantine inspections on all beef imported from the U.S. to ease jittery consumer sentiment.

“We will sort out all beef imported from the U.S. by processing plant and date,” the ministry official said.

Home Plus and Lotte Mart, two of Korea’s major discount store chains, said Wednesday that they had stopped the sale of U.S. beef. Lotte Department Store did the same the same day.

The three companies said that the suspension will last “for the time being” as the situation involved a food item that consumers are sensitive about.

E-Mart, the country’s leading discount store chain, plans to decide whether to stop selling U.S. beef after watching the Korean government’s response. Hyundai and Shinsegae Department Stores said they do not sell U.S. beef.

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