South Korea may ease restrictions on U.S. beef

South Korea, the largest buyer of U.S. beef after Japan and Mexico has agreed to partially open its markets to the meat but with a condition that shipments of only boneless meat from cattle younger than 30-months old may be resumed as the brain-wasting disease supposedly resides in bones and in older animals.

South Korea will participate in talks and conduct a risk assessment of U.S. beef in an attempt to recommence imports of meat attached to bone, which is banned, Minister of Finance and Economy, Kwon O-kyu said.

“The 30-month age limit of cattle and beef with bones may be discussed during the talks,” Agriculture Minister Park Hong Soo said. “Everything can be included in the talks.”

The announcement comes after a declaration by the World Organization for Animal Health that the U.S. was a ‘controlled risk nation,’ which means irrespective of the animal's age, countries can export safe beef.

With further relaxation of restrictions from South Korea it will be easier for the two countries to grant a free-trade settlement worth as much as $29 billion that was agreed last month. George W. Bush, president of the U.S. said earlier this year that persuading South Korea to remove beef restrictions was “an important part of our foreign policy.”

However, the government of South Korea is still analyzing the risks of importing U.S. beef and it remains undecided how long the review might take.

"Our government will sincerely hold negotiations on revising the terms of importing (U.S. beef) by respecting the recommendation of the World Organization for Animal Health," said Kwon adding that the process could be wrapped up as early as September if things go smoothly but delays may be possible.

Another big consumer of the U.S. beef, Japan, only allows imports of U.S. beef from cattle not more than 20-months old and forbids beef products with bone material. However, Japan has no immediate plans to relax any of the import conditions.