US beef from cattle over 30 months old to hit S. Korean tables

Tag: Japanese Power Cords

U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months is expected to be on tables in South Korea soon due to an announcement from the United States that it will apply stricter restrictions on animal feed. Japan, on the other hand, immediately imposed a ban on imports of U.S. beef after a spinal column, considered one of the specific risk materials that carries the risk of mad cow disease, was found in a shipment of American meat.

On April 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has banned the use of high-risk materials derived from cattle, such as brains and spinal cords, in all animal feed as part of its efforts to prevent mad cow disease. The restrictions take effect in 12 months. Under the beef agreement reached between South Korea and the United States on April 18, South Korea is required to import beef from cattle older than 30 months after stricter controls on animal feed are announced. Cattle above 30 months are at a higher risk of contracting the disease.

With the United States announcing the tightened rules less than a week after the beef deal, American meat will be imported to South Korea from next month with no limits on the age of the cattle from which the meat is cut. Given the fact that the stricter controls on animal feed will not take effect for another year, imports of U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months will not be subject to the restrictions until April 2009. However, even when the new restrictions go into effect, it is uncertain whether the U.S. meat industry will be able to implement them properly. This is one clear example of how the South Korean government was pressured by the U.S. government in the beef negotiations.