Opposition to Block Notification of Beef Import Accord
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
Three opposition parties plan to submit to the National Assembly a resolution this week urging a renegotiation of the U.S. beef import agreement, officials of the parties said Sunday.
A lawyer specializing in international trade told The Korea Times that lawmakers could delay or even nullify the agreement, but from an international perspective, it would be seen as President Lee Myung-bak's administration breaking the international legal order.
Leaders of the United Democratic Party (UDP), the Liberty Forward Party and the Democratic Labor Party will first convene on Tuesday and apply to block the government notification of the import agreement terms.
The government's official notification for the import terms is a required step before the deal can become a regulation and allow the Lee administration to reopen the Korean market. Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Chung Woon-chun is expected to announce the regulation notification Thursday.
UDP chief policymaker Choi In-gi told local media that ``it would not be advisable for the Lee administration to announce the notification if it were to compromise public safety.''
He said, ``If Agricultural Minister Chung goes ahead with the announcement, we will look into the constitutionality of the notification and call for a parliamentary investigation.''
He remarked that it would be better to renegotiate for stricter import terms now rather than ask for a ban on imports later if mad cow cases reoccur in the United States.
Opponents of the import agreement, including civic groups, argue that the Korean public is being shortchanged by the current agreement. For instance, under the current deal, the Lee administration would not be able to stop all U.S. beef imports if new mad cow cases are found in the United States. Instead, it would only be able to stop imports from slaughtering facilities in areas where mad cow disease is reported.
In an interview with The Korea Times, Kim Beom-su, an international law lawyer and a member of the International Transaction Law Committee of the Ministry of Justice, said the Lee administration does not have many appealing options despite the ongoing public scrutiny.
``The beef import agreement is an accord reached by two administrations, between President Lee and U.S. President George W. Bush. It's called an executive agreement," Kim said.
He said if the regulation notification of the import agreement terms is delayed, that would be in violation of the executive agreement.
``Further, lawmakers could ratify a bill that overrides the current agreement. That would indeed nullify the executive agreement. That's because the local law passed by the National Assembly would take precedence over the executive agreement."
But from the perspective of international law and trade, critics would say the Korean government made a promise but at the same time, passed a new law nullifying the agreement.
``It probably won't trigger a dispute in respect to the World Trade Organization. But it would be seen as breaking the international legal order. So it would be a point of embarrassment for the Lee administration," Kim said.
Also, Japan and Taiwan are currently in the process of negotiating U.S. beef import agreements. And in regard to the Lee administration saying that it would consider asking the United States for revising the import terms if either country signs a more favorable or restrictive agreement, ``that's really more of political rhetoric,'' Kim said.
Kim added, ``I don't know how realistic or effective that could be. Demanding a revision based on other countries' agreements would not be very persuasive, legally speaking.''