SEOUL - South
Korea's chief agriculture negotiator for
free-trade talks with the United States reiterated
on Wednesday that key agricultural goods must be
excluded from the trade deal.
The remark
collides with the US insistence that no exceptions
be made in a free trade agreement. The two sides
have held eight rounds of talks so far, but no
deal has been reached due to differences over
issues such as agriculture, autos, textiles,
certain services and trade dispute settlements.
The final official round of the talks
ended on Monday. The two countries will hold a
series of high-ranking meetings in the coming
weeks
to clear obstacles. The two sides have agreed to
an early April deadline to clinch a deal.
"Seoul's position on the opening of key
farm goods, such as rice, has been firm from the
outset of the negotiations," assistant Agriculture
Minister Min Dong-seok told a Seoul radio station.
He said South Korea has offered to break
this impasse by offering "in-house" concessions,
like the lowering of tariffs for other
agricultural items in which the US is interested.
"We have conveyed our intention to adjust the
current 40% tariff on beef imports if the US
accepts our demands," he said.
On Tuesday,
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun warned that
Seoul will not sign any deal if it does not
benefit his country. "We will not rush for an
early and unconditional conclusion", Roh told his
cabinet ministers. Roh said he has instructed
South Korean negotiators "to thoroughly take real
economic benefits into consideration in the
free-trade talks".
South Korea's offered
to lower tariffs for agricultural items could
greatly boost sales of American beef, which
accounted for 68% of beef imports to the country
before Seoul imposed a ban in late 2003.
On mounting pressure from Washington to
allow bone-in beef to be sold in South Korea, Min
said US demands are too "excessive" to be
accepted. Under last year's agreement, Seoul
agreed to import boneless beef from cattle under
30 months old.
"We have countered by
stating our willingness to renegotiate the import
agreement reached in January 2006 if the US
receives the 'controlled risk country'
classification from the World Organization for
Animal Health in May," Min said.
The
organization recently released preliminary reports
that indicated that the US will be reclassified as
a "controlled risk country" when it releases its
final report.
If the US officially becomes
a controlled risk country, it can technically
export all beef from cattle under 30 months old
not containing specified risk materials. SRMs pose
the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease
to humans and include such parts as skulls,
brains, vertebrae, spinal cords and certain
internal organs.
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