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U.S. government and the livestock industry are miffed at the Korean government's decision to reject all imports of U.S. beef found to contain bone fragments. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says the bilateral agreement makes it very clear that if imported U.S. beef is found to contain bone fragments, all concerned shipments are returned or destroyed. "As long as that clause remains, we will continue to x-ray all beef shipments," a ministry official said. But John Reddington, the vice president for trade at the American Meat Institute, told Reuters "This reiterates....that the Koreans were never really interested in opening the market."
The U.S. National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) told Reuters the shipping and inspection restrictions would cost ¡°US$160 million to $170 million a year for a market that is now worth $400 million." It claims it is impossible for the industry to export only boneless meat according to the Korean standard. The NCBA urged President George W. Bush to intervene in the matter, making it highly likely that the issue will cause trouble in the fifth round of FTA negotiations between the two countries which start Monday.
Korea¡¯s top FTA negotiator Kim Jong-hoon said the resumption of beef imports is of great importance to the U.S. and could aggravate the atmosphere in the negotiations. But he said negotiations will not break down over it. National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service chief Kang Mun-il said earlier, "Korea's standards are if anything less strict than those of other nations. Taiwan also returned U.S. beef products after it discovered a bone fragment in April.¡± Korea was the U.S.' third largest beef market before halting its imports in 2003.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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