Korea will return or destroy the first shipment of U.S. beef in almost three years after discovering a bone fragment in it. Only boneless beef has been newly cleared for import to safeguard against BSE or mad cow disease. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forest said Friday it did not approve U.S. beef imported late last month because inspectors found a bone fragment.
The ministry also canceled the export license to Korea of the U.S. plant that processed the beef in question. The other 35 meat processing businesses can continue to export beef, but all of it will be subject to inspections. Another 3.6 tons of beef await inspection in quarantine in Yeongjongdo.
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A bone fragment found in a beef shipment from the U.S. last month during inspection./Yonhap
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The ministry said the bone fragment did not come from parts associated with a high risk of BSE such as the spinal cord.
Korea and the U.S. agreed in January that Korea can renew the ban on all U.S. beef imports if parts linked to a high risk of mad cow disease are found in imported beef and stop U.S. meat processing plants from exporting to Korea if proscribed parts are found in beef processed at the plants.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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