By Bae Keun-min
Staff Reporter

The South Korean government on Tuesday said it will not lift its import ban on American beef until all suspicions surrounding the U.S. mad cow disease outbreak are cleared away.

In a report to President Roh Moo-hyun at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Huh Sang-man said South Korea will also ask the United States to take stricter safety measures.

The announcement came as a three-member delegation led by David Hegwood, a trade adviser to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, met with South Korean counterparts at the Integrated Government Complex in Kwachon, south of Seoul, yesterday.

Lee Myung-soo, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), said the two parties agreed it is not a proper time to talk about resuming imports of American beef.

The government also said it is unable to accommodate the U.S. request that American beef shipped before Dec. 23, when the mad cow disease was reported at in Washington State, be cleared for customs inspection and distributed.

``We agreed that it is not the right time to discuss the resumption of the U.S. beef imports,’’ Lee said. ``But the U.S. delegation asked whether the Korean government would be flexible enough to let the American beef in customs clearance warehouses receive clearance if the United States implements measures to guarantee safety in a scientific way. We said no to the question.’’

Lee said the biggest concern of the government is to protect the health of South Koreans. He made it clear that the U.S. had not made a direct request that South Korea scrap the import ban.

A total ban on imports of American beef and beef products was announced on Saturday after the suspected case of the brain-wasting disease tested positive in preliminary lab results early last week. The U.S. delegation arrived here yesterday following a meeting with Japanese policymakers over Tokyo’s ban on imports of American beef. Japan is the largest importer of American beef.

Japan reportedly refused to lift its ban, saying it will not resume imports until the safety of the food is proved. Japan imported $1.03 billion worth of beef and beef products last year, accounting for 32 percent of the U.S. beef exports. South Korea, Japan and Mexico accounted for about 89 percent of U.S. beef exports this year. South Korea imported $655.9 million of U.S. beef last year, according to the ministry.

During the meeting, the delegation explained what the U.S. government has been doing to verify origin of the disease and the whereabouts of beef products suspected to be infected by the disease, Lee said. The delegation said the cow was imported from Canada and the U.S. promised to keep Seoul informed of the progress in its ongoing investigation, he said. He said the delegation, accompanied by two officials from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, also invited a team of Korean experts to the U.S. at their convenience. Local processed food manufacturers, including Daesang, have begun to recall flavor-enhancing products that contain ingredients derived from U.S. cow parts. Daesang said it has been recalling three monosodium glutamate products at the risk of shouldering about 6 billion won in losses. Ottogi began withdrawing its two instant food products using U.S. cow ingredients from store shelves Friday.

However, CJ, Korea’s biggest maker of processed foods, on Tuesday said it will not recall its flavor-enhancing product containing ingredients derived from U.S. beef as it used only pure meat for its products.


kenbae@koreatimes.co.kr