By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

The first shipment of U.S. beef under the new sanitary system will arrive here today following a 10-month ban, also making it the first bone-in cuts import, which had been prohibited since 2003 for fear of mad cow disease.

All the 2.2-ton shipment of bone-in cuts, called L.A. galbi here, is a product by Creekstone Farms, a Kansas beef producer, according to its importer Nerp and the National Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service (NVRQS).

About 3 percent of the American imports go through sampled inspection, three times higher than Australian or New Zealand beef. The rate will be leveled if no serious problem takes place over the next six months.

Since the reimport was allowed in June, over 80 percent of locally stored U.S. beef imports have been issued quarantine certification so far. They, however, were boneless beef, which had been in frozen storage since last October.

Importers have put a total of 4,311 tons of meat for quarantine inspection out of which 4,300 tons were issued certification, the NVRQS said Saturday. Around 1,300 tons of them have been delivered to importers while the rest are still on storage, the agency said.

The quarantine agency expected stored frozen U.S. beef to be out for sale soon since consumption is restricted after one year.

"Considering their circulation period, the remaining 3,000 tons of beef will soon be out in the market as well," the NVRQS said.

Seoul resumed conducting quarantine inspections of boneless U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months old again in April 2007, before re-imposing a ban six months later as several bone chips were found in shipment.

The revised pact, practically allowing all bone-in beef cuts, was initially completed in April, but it took a couple more months of unrest and an additional negotiation until the two countries confirmed the entry of U.S. beef into the Korean market.

After a week-long marathon meeting, Seoul and Washington agreed on additional measures including a ban on U.S. shipments of beef from older cattle as well as the quality system assessment (QSA) program with age verification.

Under the program, the U.S. government will only allow beef from cattle under the 30 months old to be exported to South Korea, and any products without QSA certification would be shipped back.

The United States accepted Seoul's proposal to prohibit the import of American spinal cords, eyes, skulls and brains ― part of specific risk materials with higher risks of mad cow disease ― from cows of all ages.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr