By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Seoul and Washington began talks on new South Korean guidelines for imports of American beef Thursday. Washington demands a full-fledged resumption of imports. But Seoul wants to maintain its ban on some U.S. beef parts.
Officials from both sides began the two-day consultation at the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, to set up new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards for beef imports.
South Korean negotiators projected that the country could maintain the current ban on some materials that could transmit mad cow disease often described with the term, specified risk materials (SRMs).
South Korea had imposed a total ban on U.S. beef after confirmation of a mad cow disease case in December 2003. It partially lifted the ban later, allowing the import of boneless beef from cattle aged less than 30 months.
According to sources, the South Korean negotiators proposed that the country allow import of ribs but maintain the ban on other SRMs such as brains, eyes, tonsils and spinal cords.
U.S. officials, however, called for the resumption of full-scale beef imports, reminding Seoul of the fact that the country had received the ``controlled risk'' status in terms of mad cow disease from the World Organization for Animal Health last May.
This week's talks come after a series of disclosures of some problematic shipments from the U.S., which led to temporary halts of the South Korean quarantine inspections of U.S. beef over the past few months.
``We are dealing with a highly sensitive issue for both South Korea and the United States,'' said Lee Sang-kil, head of the livestock bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry leading the Seoul delegation. ``It puts much burden on both sides.''
In particular, the South Korean government has been under great pressure, as it is faced with mounting public criticism for its ``low posture'' even before the start of the negotiations.
``Experts say that U.S. beef poses no health risks beyond international standards,'' Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Im Sang-gyu told a radio program Wednesday.
South Korea's restrictions on U.S. beef imports has become one of the most sensitive issues in trade between the two nations, which signed a controversial free trade agreement (FTA) last June.