Korea to End Ban on U.S. Beef Imports

Korea will resume importation of U.S. beef for the first time in two years and nine months by the beginning of next month.

Beginning back in December 2003, Korea has imposed a ban on the import of U.S. beef based on health concerns from mad cow disease.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) announced yesterday that it would resume importing beef from the U.S., citing that a second on-site inspection of the U.S. beef export system showed no sanitary defections in its handling of mad cow disease safety measures.

Korea and the U.S. initially agreed to remove the ban this past January, but the first on-site inspection of the U.S. export system in May revealed some flaws in safety measures such as the slaughtering of U.S. and Canadian cows together on the same site, for which Korea delayed import resumption.

The category of U.S. beef to be imported will be limited to red meat from cows under 30 months. Other types such as ribs, tongue, innards, processed meat and minced beef will not be imported.

In addition, if a bone at risk of causing mad cow disease is found again in U.S. beef, the importation of U.S. beef will again be totally banned, and if a bone not directly associated with mad cow disease is detected, the Korean government can discuss the possible ban from the questioned export site with the U.S. government.

It is expected that U.S. beef will be for sale on the market from the beginning of October, 25 days after the director general of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) approves the export site.

However, Deputy Vice Minister of MAF Kim Dal-jung stated, “U.S. beef is unlikely to be available on the market around Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving Day, as local retailers secure beef for Chuseok two months in advance.

Imported U.S. beef amounted to 200,000 tons in 2003, accounting for 67.9 percent of the beef market. Ribs made up 66 percent of this portion. However, it appears that ribs will account for far less a portion of imported U.S. beef this time around because it was not included in the beef types for import.

Meanwhile, local beef prices are likely to go down slightly.

The Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) forecasted that with the resumption of U.S. beef imports, the producer price of Korean cows will fall by 8.4 to 10.8 percent from a year earlier. A drop in consumer price will be likely to be within 10 percent.

It was also expected that the import price of Australia and New Zealand beef, which has seen a spike in their prices since 2003, as well as pork prices, will drop.

sublime@donga.com