By Choi Kyong-ae
Staff Reporter

South Korea will resume importing U.S. beef as early as March after a two-year ban triggered by a report of mad cow disease, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) said on Friday.
The decision came as the United States accepted Korea’s proposals to exclude “risky” parts of U.S. beef such as beef with bones. In return, Korea will allow beef of cattle younger than 31 months to be shipped into the market.

“In the negotiations over the past four days, we strongly demanded that risky parts of cattle such as ribs with bones and intestines should not pass through Korean customs,” said Kim Sung, a ministry official.

“Beef from only designated U.S. slaughterhouses can be shipped to Korea and any sign of mad cow disease will bring all the U.S. beef imports to a halt.”

Earlier this week, the two sides were still divided over the terms of the shipment of U.S. beef. Korea sought to bring in U.S. beef from cattle as young as 20 months and refused some other cuts. The Korean proposals looked similar to the import terms proposed by Japan, which has already r e s u m e d importing U.S. and Canadian beef.

However, the U.S. urged Korea to import beef of cattle younger than 31 months and almost every part of the carcass, including ribs which had accounted for about 60 percent of Korea’s U.S. beef imports before the disease was detected in 2003.

Claiming that U.S. beef older than 20 months is not safe to eat, the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation called earlier Korea-U.S. negotiation results a failure compared to those of Japan. But last month, Korea’s livestock quarantine panel concluded that U.S. beef was safe to eat.

According to the World Organization for Animal Health, meat from cows under 30 months old is safe for consumption as long as possibly dangerous parts such as brains and intestines are properly removed.

Its conditional approach encouraged resistance from local ranchers and consumer groups, which have raised health concerns.

Though the two-year-old import ban was lifted, it will take at least two months for local Koreans to access U.S. beef because some final-round import procedures need to be settled.

A human version of mad cow disease can be contracted by eating contaminated meat and is blamed for the deaths of more than 150 people worldwide, including one in Japan.

godamon@koreatimes.co.kr