By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Washington has admitted that an additional four packages of U.S. beef sent to South Korea early this month, beside the two packages mistakenly shipped in late May, had not been processed for export, according to officials in Seoul Tuesday.
South Korean officials said the packages have been sent back to the United States and not circulated in the local market. But the latest mistakes in shipment are expected to further dampen public sentiment toward the resumption of full-scale beef imports from the U.S.
Kang Mun-il, head of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, said the government has received a letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirming the mistaken shipment of beef packages containing 130 kilograms.
``Richard Raymond, undersecretary for food safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sent a letter confirming that the U.S. government has found four packages containing 130 kilograms of beef that were sent to South Korea by mistake,’’ he said.
He added that Raymond said in the letter that the U.S. government ordered Tyson Foods Inc., the meat exporter involved in the latest mistake, not to further handle beef exports to South Korea.
``He also said the U.S. government censured the Food Safety and Inspection Service official that issued the export permit without carefully checking the contents,’’ Kang said.
South Korea lifted a week-long quarantine of U.S. beef, prompted by misdirected shipments of meat meant for U.S. consumption. But the government shunned the Springdale-based Tyson Foods and Minneapolis-based Cargill, which sent the wrong packages of meat late last month.
Seoul has only permitted the import of U.S. beef that is boneless and from cattle under 30 months old in accordance with a ban following the discovery of mad cow disease in late 2003.
But officials say the country would have to resume imports of all U.S. beef products, even those with bones, from September.
President Roh Moo-hyun promised to resume the imports ahead of the conclusion of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. if the U.S. was classified as a ``controlled-risk’’ nation for mad cow disease.
In May, the World Organization for Animal Health gave the U.S. and Canada the second-best safety rating for mad cow disease risk, paving the way for the two countries to pressure other countries to lift their bans on beef imports.