By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
The U.S. offensive to reopen the local beef market is expected to intensify further in the wake of the world animal health agency’s latest conclusion that American and Canadian beef pose a ``controlled risk’’ for mad cow disease.
Some industry sources said the latest risk assessment on the mad cow disease will likely pave the way for South Korea’s import of U.S. bone-in beef including short ribs, better known as ``LA Galbi’’ here, as early as September.
On Tuesday, the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) concluded that U.S. and Canadian beef pose only a ``controlled risk’’ for mad cow disease, a softened evaluation which experts here viewed would increase the pressure on other countries to resume full imports of their meat.
``Canada and the United States have unanimously been granted `BSE controlled risk,’’’ said a spokesperson for the OIE, which sets guidelines for animal health and meat safety. BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is the official name for mad cow disease.
Both the U.S. and Canada hailed the new assessment immediately since they regard it as the removal of a major obstacle that has blocked their beef exports to other nations.
In accordance with the new categorization, the U.S. will be able to export most beef parts regardless of age of the butchered animal, as long as specified risk materials (SRMs) are removed.
SRMs, including skull bones, brains, vertebral columns and spinal cords, are known to pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to human beings.
U.S. beef accounted for about 75 percent of all imported meat before Seoul imposed a ban in December 2003 following the announcement of a case of mad cow disease in America.
South Korea was the third largest importer of U.S. beef, following Japan and Mexico, before the ban. At present, Australian beef accounts for 79 percent of South Korea’s imports.
In January 2006, Seoul and Washington reached an agreement which permitted only boneless beef from cows less than 30 months old to be brought into South Korea.
But the U.S. has tenaciously demanded that South Korea reopen the beef market, even utilizing the issue as a card to pressure Seoul in the 10-month negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) struck on April 2.
President Roh Moo-hyun, just before the conclusion of the trade deal, told U.S. President George W. Bush in telephone talks that the South Korean government would address the issue through a reasonable procedure and time schedule once the OIE issues a fresh assessment on U.S. beef.
Stephen Norton, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representatives, noted that Roh had earlier agreed to respect the OIE guidelines. ``In light of this statement and the OIE announcement, we look forward to Korea expeditiously taking the steps necessary to fully reopen its beef market,’’ he said.
Max Baucus, Democratic senator from Montana, a major beef exporting state, also said the latest OIE decision makes ``abundantly clear’’ that import restrictions imposed by South Korea, Japan, China and other trading partners have no scientific basis.
Sources in the domestic beef industry said it was possible that the import of U.S. ribs, which had been banned since late 2003, could be resumed before September this year.
``Once the decision becomes official at the OIE’s general assembly scheduled for Friday, the U.S. is expected to call for immediate talks to discuss our current import guidelines,’’ an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said on condition of anonymity.
Government officials said American meat would dominate the import market as it did in the past, once all U.S. beef including ribs are allowed into the country again.
Industry sources see local cattle ranchers are likely to be hit hard since they can hardly compete with their American rivals in terms of price. U.S. beef usually costs much less than local meat. In the past, the U.S. beef sold here at one-fifth to one-fourth the price of ``hanwu,’’ or Korean beef.
Since the conclusion of free trade deal between the two sides, the average price of a calf -- the barometer of cow prices -- dropped to 2.1 million won ($2,250) to 2.2 million won range from 2.7 million won to 2.8 million won in late March.