WASHINGTON _ American beef exporters on Thursday lamented billions of U.S. dollars in losses from a restricted South Korean market and called on the two governments to rectify inspection standards.
In a hearing called by the International Trade Commission (ITC), the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said U.S. beef exports this year would have reached $1.53 billion.
"Constrained by Korea's beef ban, the United States lost estimated exports of 1.453 million metric tons valued at $4.8 billion from 2004-2007," the association said.
The U.S. incurred additional losses by having to retain the beef on the domestic market that otherwise would have been sold overseas, it said.
"All told, Korea's ban on U.S. beef due to BSE has likely cost U.S. beef producers, feedlots and processors somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 billion in revenue over the past four years."
Detection of BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, more commonly known as the mad cow disease, at a cattle farm in Washington state in December 2003 prompted South Korea to stop all imports of American beef.
Seoul partially lifted the restrictions in January 2006, allowing imports of boneless products to minimize health risks, but suspended imports last month after repeated discoveries of bone fragments in U.S. shipments.
The U.S. is demanding a full market reopening to all products, citing a finding earlier this year by the World Organization for Animal Health that most American beef products are safe for exports.
The dispute has been affecting efforts by the two countries to ratify their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) signed in June. Although not a part of the agreement, senior U.S. legislators have publicly declared they will not approve the trade deal without a full resolution to the issue.
Thursday's hearing is part of the ITC's ongoing investigation of the dispute, initiated by the Senate Finance Committee, one of the congressional bodies that needs to endorse the FTA before the deal goes to a full vote.
"Unfortunately, Korea has adopted a culture of retaliation against U.S. meat," said Rosemary Mucklow of the National Meat Association.
"This is meat that Koreans in the U.S. eat, and that Korean-Americans help to produce and process in the U.S.," she said.
Bone fragments can turn up in the shipments while separating bone from muscle, she said. "I dare say the same thing happens in Korea, unless the country has developed invertebrate breeds of cattle."
Eric Nelson, chairman of the R-Calf USA Trade Committee, blamed the U.S. government for failing to take the right measures.
"The U.S. grants expanded access to our market for imports of cattle and beef before our access to lost export markets is fully restored," he said, "enabling important export customers to drag their feet on market access as imports gain a growing share of the U.S. market."
He also blamed the administration for not strictly separating U.S. and Canadian cattle. The BSE in the Washington cattle farm was in a Canadian animal.
"Another barrier to U.S. beef exports flows from the inability of producers to ensure that beef from cattle born, raised, and slaughtered exclusively in the U.S. is clearly distinguished from imported beef and beef from imported cattle," he said.
(Yonhap)