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Korea has not submitted the full materials needed for BSE risk assessment and is therefore in the mad cow disease category of ¡°undetermined risk¡±, the deputy director general of the world organization for animal health (OIE) told Korean reporters recently. Jean-Luc Angot called on Seoul to submit related documents and get categorized to reassure consumers of the safety of domestic beef. In the OIE¡¯s assessment, the U.S. is a ¡°controlled risk.¡± The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries claimed the government submitted documents for BSE risk assessments in November but the OIE asked for supplementary information.
In applications for BSE risk assessments, countries must demonstrate that they have conducted BSE surveillance; have not fed cattle animal feed being made of cow parts; have awareness, education and reporting programs; and are in compliance with overall OIE rules. A ministry official said Korea ¡°did not have enough time¡± to prepare and will apply for assessment again later this year after gathering more data on BSE risk cows and supplement documents.
Applicants are divided into three categories: negligible, controlled and undetermined BSE risk, which includes countries that did not submit applications or failed the assessments. Among 172 OIE members, only 6.4 percent are categorized. The number of countries in the categories of negligible and controlled risk will likely jump later this month. Five countries like Finland and Sweden are in the negligible category, and 25 countries including Britain, Spain and Ireland are in the category of controlled risk. The 30 countries¡¯ categories will be finalized at the annual general session of the OIE in Paris on May 25-30.
A better category ensures beef exporters a competitive edge. If a country is in the undetermined category, it can sell beef overseas but faces disadvantages in talks on sanitary and quarantine conditions. In Korea, no case of mad cow disease has been reported and the country is not a beef exporter. Why then does it want to get categorized? Kim Chang-seob, a chief veterinary officer at the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said Korea will have the advantage over negotiating partners in beef talks if it is placed in the negligible risk category. The country also needs an advance international evaluation that Korean beef is clean and safe, he added.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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