SEOUL - Discussions on an
early resumption of US beef imports, which have been
prohibited in South Korea since late last year for
sanitary reasons, will top the agenda of next week's
bilateral trade talks, an official at the US Embassy in
Seoul said Friday.
The US embassy economic
official, who said on condition of anonymity, also
stressed that the beef issue will not be discussed in
conjunction with the on-going rice talks with South
Korea, which is hoping to expand its rights to limit
rice imports.
"We are now approaching a year on
this issue," the official said.
"We are looking
now to Korea to be fairly rapid in studying the measures
that the US food safety experts have taken to deal with
the situation and reach the same conclusion that we have
which is that US beef is safe for consumption."
The next round of quarterly Korea-U.S. trade
talks are scheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday in
Seoul.
South Korea imposed an import ban on US
beef after the U.S. discovered its first case of mad cow
disease on a Washington state farm in December.
South Korea was the third-largest importer of US
beef after Japan and Mexico.
However, the U.S.
will not link the beef issue with the rice talks as many
South Koreans fear, the official said.
"There is
physical impossibility (to link the two issues)," the
official said. "There are 10 countries, including South
Korea, participating in the rice talks and you just
can't do it."
South Korea has held a series of
bilateral talks with nine rice-exporting countries,
including the United States, on an extension of its
right to limit rice imports.
Under the 1994
agreement at the Uruguay Round talks, South Korea was
granted the right to limit rice imports to 4% of total
domestic consumption. Since then, the country has
gradually increased rice imports to about 200,000 tons a
year.
However, with the expiration of the
multilateral trade pact this year, South Korea is
required to decide either to raise its import quota or
adopt a tariff system before the end of the year if it
fails to extend its rights through individual
negotiations with its trading partners.
Local
observers have raised concerns that Washington may try
to seek a tradeoff with Seoul in agricultural trade by
pressuring South Korea to drop its ban on American beef
imports in exchange for US cooperation in the rice
talks.
"We have made some progress (in the rice
talks) and are getting closer to coming to an
agreement," the official said.
The official
noted it is too soon for the two countries to discuss a
bilateral free trade agreement as the US "needs to see
additional concrete accomplishments" in other trade
issues first.
(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)
Nov 6, 2004
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