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In July last year, the Roh Moo-hyun administration¡¯s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry concluded that the chance of mad cow disease from imported American beef spreading to humans and into the country was negligible, it emerged Tuesday. The United Democratic Party, heir to the ruling party at the time, now opposes U.S. beef imports.
A document disclosed to Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon by the ministry reads, "Considering the measures the U.S. has taken to prevent BSE and its public sanitary conditions, including removal of specified risk materials at the slaughterhouses, there is a very slim chance of BSE from beef spreading to humans even if the disease should recur in the U.S. The risk of BSE from imported American beef spreading to the country is negligible."
The document was drawn up by the ministry after own on-site inspections in the U.S. and expert data from American beef compiled on July 19, 2007, which the ministry had drawn up in preparation for the first council on beef quarantine on July 25.
"Given that there is a slim risk of cross-contamination as no source materials of BSE have been transported into the U.S. and most cattle feed is produced by specialized facilities, the U.S. satisfies the standards of the OIE (world organization for animal health) as a controlled-risk country,¡± it reads. ¡°While BSE cannot be said to have been completely eradicated from the U.S., we believe that it will be possible to detect the disease through inspections."
At a meeting on resumption of American beef imports on Nov. 17, 2007, then-prime minister Han Duck-soo and related ministers decided to import all beef parts, except SRMs, regardless of the age of cattle if the U.S. tightened the animal feed ban.
The United Democratic Party, now the main opposition, denied a volte face in supporting recent protests against the import of U.S. beef. A spokesman claimed the government may have held discussions in the process of import negotiations, but the final decision was not implemented because president Roh opposed it.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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