By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

With concerns rising over the safety of U.S. imported beef, a South Korean delegation started its inspection of beef-processing facilities at U.S. butchers and slaughterhouses.

The nine-strong delegation in four groups, led by Sohn Chan-joon, a livestock product safety and inspection director of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS), will inspect 31 U.S. facilities in 10 states authorized by the U.S. government, from Thursday to May 25.

"We are here to make sure the sanitary conditions agreed between South Korea and the United States are up to standard,'' Sohn said. "This is just a check-up, not a direct auditing process.''

The delegation will focus on checking if the age separation between cattle for slaughter aged 20 months and 30 months is enforced; whether specified risk materials (SRMs) are adequately removed; and if sanitary conditions of the facilities and their employees are managed according to the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, a systematic preventative approach to food and pharmaceutical safety.

Under the new import conditions agreed at last month's negotiation of the two countries, cattle under 30 months of age, free of the distal ileum, a part of the small intestine, and tonsils can be imported to South Korea. All seven SRMs, with eyes, brains, backbones, skulls and spinal cords attached, should be removed from cattle over 30 months old.

The visit, however, seems to be unable to get away from criticism in regard to its impractical schedule of visiting 10 states in 10 days.

"A normal check-up process takes about half a day in local facilities," an official of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

There is no confirmed itinerary for the delegation, the schedule of which completely depends on the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Also, currently it has no authority to request changes should flaws be witnessed.

The government is planning to announce the enforcement of revised sanitary conditions for beef imports on Thursday in tandem with the beginning of the inspection.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr