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    Korea
     Apr 27, 2006
Beef imports to resume

SEOUL - South Korea is likely to resume imports of US beef in June as its probe into a cow infected with mad cow disease in America showed that the animal was confirmed to have been born before April 1998, the country's Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday.

The date is important because if the animal was born after April 1998, the country could maintain its ban on American beef that has been in effect since late 2003.

The discovery of the first-ever case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), better known as mad cow disease, in the



US, compelled Seoul to impose the ban.

In January, South Korea, once the third-largest export market for US beef, agreed to resume beef imports, lifting a two-year ban. But South Korea will only allow imports of beef from cattle aged less than 30 months, and on the condition that parts it regards as risky, such as ribs, be removed prior to shipping.

"Our experts sent to the United States reached a conclusion that the US cow infected with mad-cow disease in Alabama is at least 8 years old, meaning that it was born before April 1998," the ministry said in a statement.

The age of the animal is significant because one of the two major safeguards against mad cow disease - a ban on using cattle parts in cattle feed - began in 1997 and started to be effective in April 1998.

The ministry said it will decide soon whether to send inspectors to check on all 33 slaughterhouses that export beef from the US.

The findings by the inspectors will be examined after they return, and the final decision on whether to allow the resumption of US beef imports will be made later in the month, according to the ministry.

(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)

 

 
 



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