South Korea says to resume US beef imports

SEOUL, Aug 24 (Reuters) South Korea said today it would end its effective ban on US beef imports, which should ease tensions in a trade dispute, after receiving assurances from the United States about safety inspections for the product.

South Korea, once the third-largest overseas market for US beef, effectively blocked imports in early August by suspending quarantine inspections after finding a prohibited spinal column in a beef shipment.

South Korea will resume quarantine inspections as of August 27, the agriculture ministry said.

It will not allow imports from the plant that shipped the spinal material and keep a ban on four other packers who shipped parts deemed by Seoul as risky, the ministry said.

US beef returned to South Korean stores shelves in July.

South Korea ended a 3-1/2-year ban last month on US beef that was prompted by a 2003 outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States, allowing in boneless US beef from cattle under 30 months old.

US lawmakers have said they may not approve a sweeping bilateral trade deal struck in April, the biggest for Washington in some 15 years, if Seoul does not completely open its market to US beef.

REUTERS AK BST0735