Lee Says Ban on American Beef Possible
US Rules Out Renegotiating Beef Deal
By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak said Wednesday that the government will stop imports of American beef if public health is threatened.
He made the statement Wednesday during his visit to the southwestern port city of Gunsan for a ground-breaking ceremony of the second Hyunidai Heavy Industries shipyard.
Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun also said South Korea would suspend imports of American beef if mad cow case is reported in the United States.
The statements invited immediate repudiation from Washington. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab ruled out the possibility that Washington will renegotiate or revise the Korea-U.S. beef deal.
Under the bilateral accord, Korea cannot suspend imports of American beef even if mad cow disease were to occur in the United States.
Seoul officials said South Korea would honor the beef deal. There will be no further negotiations or revisions of the deal.
However, the agriculture minister said Seoul will suspend quarantine inspections of American beef should mad cow disease be detected. He said Seoul will be ready to risk trade friction.
He made it clear, however, that the beef deal should be honored and implemented.
``We cannot exchange anything for people's lives,'' the President said.
``The government will be ready to take measures against factors threatening the health of the people,'' he said.
Though Lee did not clarify whether the possible ban would be a ``total'' suspension, several officials confirmed that he is poised to reverse the commercial agreements with the U.S.
Citing the President's remarks, Minister Chung said ``In the face of feasible commercial conflicts, we will issue a ban in the event of a mad cow disease outbreak.''
Kang Jae-sup, chairman of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), also, called for a halt of U.S. beef imports if there is new outbreak of mad cow disease in the U.S.
Furthermore, he said, ``If mad cow disease is detected in the U.S., I believe the government will push for renegotiations.''
While several lawmakers of the pro-government party commented on the possibility of renegotiations, government officials continued to rule out the scenario.
Some officials said the government is seeking to create new quarantine rules to ban U.S. beef imports state by state if a mad cow case occurs.
Calling U.S. beef ``perfectly safe,'' U.S. Trade Representative Schwab insisted that the beef that American producers will be selling in Korea is the ``same'' beef likely to have been eaten by everyone in her office for lunch.
In a different vein, several U.S. media reports had it that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is blocking American companies from selling mad cow testing kits to slaughterhouses or meat processors such as Creekstone.
Not only is the Department of Agriculture blocking Creekstone, the department is reducing its mad cow testing program by 90 percent The department had tested only 1 percent of the roughly 100,000 cattle slaughtered daily. Now it is testing only 110 cows a day.
``By cutting back on the testing, the USDA will save about $35 million a year,'' USA Today quoted an expert. ``That is pittance compared with the devastation the cattle industry could face if just one human case of mad cow disease is linked to domestic beef.''
First and foremost, ``sampling'' cattle for mad cow disease does not ensure food safety, the newspaper said.