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South Korea bars beef from U.S. facility after finding banned b
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)--South Korea said May 30 it has suspended beef imports from a U.S. meat processing plant after finding banned bone material--thought by Seoul to raise the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy--in a recent shipment. Seoul prohibited U.S. beef imports in December 2003, after BSE surfaced in the U.S. But the country partially reopened the market last year, on the condition that imports contain only boneless meat from cattle younger than 30 months--thought to be least at risk of carrying the illness. However, the first three shipments were turned back for containing tiny bone pieces. It was only last month that a U.S. beef shipment passed quarantine inspections for the first time since imports were resumed. On May 30, the Agriculture Ministry said rib bones were found in two boxes of a 15.2-ton shipment that arrived May 25. The ministry suspended imports from the U.S. facility that processed the beef in that shipment. The facility, whose name and location were not released, was identified only by one of its initials, F. It is one of 36 American plants authorized to process South Korea-bound meat. Under U.S. pressure, South Korea relaxed quarantine standards earlier this year and is supposed to return only individual boxes--not the entire shipment--and without suspending the processing facility, even if bone fragments are found. The ministry said it decided to suspend imports from the facility because the bones are not simply fragments. South Korea announced May 28 that it would hold talks with the United States about further easing its restrictions on American beef shipments and conduct a risk assessment of the meat in a possible step toward resuming imports of beef attached to bone. The announcement followed a recent ruling by the World Organization for Animal Health that the United States was a "controlled risk nation," a category that means countries can export beef irrespective of the animal's age. Washington seized on the announcement as proof that U.S. beef is safe. The U.S. has been urging South Korea to further open its market, the third-largest U.S. beef destination after Japan and Mexico before the ban. In 2003 alone, it brought in about $813.2 million worth of American beef, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation. 1 Star WK 6/4/07 18 B Date: 5/31/07
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