S Korea to lift three-year ban on US beef

SEOUL, Sept 8: South Korea, once the world's third-largest export market for American beef, said on Friday it would open its doors again to U.S. beef and end a three-year ban imposed because of mad cow disease.

The decision clears a long-standing area of friction between the two economic powers and comes as Seoul was under increasing U.S.

pressure to resume imports after Japan, once the leading foreign market for American beef, resumed imports last month.

U.S. beef imports from 36 approved beef packers are likely to arrive in South Korea in late September and should be on store shelves in October, the agriculture ministry said, adding the meat will be subject to tough safety inspections.

''South Korean experts concluded U.S. beef is safe in terms of international guidelines,'' Kim Dal-joong, deputy minister at the ministry said in a news briefing.

''But once U.S. beef arrives here, we will check on safety issues carefully, such as whether the U.S. beef shipments have risky parts such as bones or organs,'' Kim said.

South Korea imposed its ban on U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after a reported case of mad cow disease in the United States.

The United States once accounted for more than two-thirds of South Korea's beef imports, or about 0 million a year worth of products.

After the ban, sales of Australian beef in South Korea jumped to about 101,000 tonnes in 2005, from around 64,000 tonnes in 2003.

U.S. beef imports totalled just under 200,000 tonnes in 2003, the agriculture ministry said.

South Korea will allow imports of U.S. beef from cattle less than 30 months old, on condition that parts it regarded as risky, such as ribs, were removed prior to shipping, the ministry said.

South Korea agreed in January to resume imports but had delayed implementing its decision several times because of safety concerns.

Kim said the deal would allow Seoul to reimpose the ban if there was another mad cow outbreak in the United States.

STILL CAUTIOUS ABOUT BEEF But there is still concern in South Korea about the safety of the U.S. product.

Earlier this week, 36 South Korean lawmakers sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush in which they said there may not be enough safeguards in place to make sure U.S. beef is free of mad cow disease.

A recent poll of 651 South Koreans by the Korea Rural Economic Institute showed more than 70 percent of respondents said they had no plans to buy U.S. beef.

South Korean housewife Han Soo-jung said she has no intention of buying American meat.

''I am just worried. Remember mad cow disease? I don't believe the inspection from the government is perfect. It's still dangerous, you know,'' she said by telephone.

South Korea has some of the highest prices for beef in the world due it its protected market. Other consumers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of U.S. beef.

Before the ban in 2003, South Korean beef prices were about four times higher than those for imported U.S. beef, according to government data.

According to the National Statistical Office, average beef prices in South Korea that year were .67 per kg, the highest in the world, followed by Japan at .79.

''U.S. beef is cheaper. For me, it's perfect if it's cheap,'' said housewife Kwon Sun-kwang, who added she trusted the government to monitor the safety of the product.

REUTERS