South Korea agrees to allow imports once again
South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry decided on September 8 to lift the 34-month ban on imports of U.S. beef, saying that its inspections of 36 local slaughterhouses raised no safety concerns. The ban was imposed on the beef imports after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was confirmed in the U.S. in December 2003. South Korea used to be the third largest consumer of U.S. beef. Before the ban, South Korean people consumed around 390,000 tons of beef, among which U.S. imports amounted to 200,000 tons. After the ban, Australian beef replaced U.S. products on the shelves, but people had voiced a taste preference for U.S. rather than Australian beef. The Agriculture Ministry said that the move to lift the ban would not have a serious impact on the local cattle-raising sector, since local beef is more favored than imported meat, and the ministry would limit imports of specific items such as ribs and organs."Still, there are fears among the public regarding U.S beef, so it will take some time before the imported meat to regain the market share it used to have," said Jeong Min-guk, a researcher at the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI). The ministry forecast that its move would have a good impact on the domestic market, such as the slight lowering of prices of pork and chicken, which have been in higher demand due to the mad cow scare. Imported beef prices will also likely drop as U.S meat would intensify competition in the market. Since U.S. beef was banned, meat products from Australia and New Zealand in the local market have pushed prices up. However, experts believe that beef prices from Australia and New Zealand would drop to 60-70 percent of the price level of U.S. beef. Consumers, however, still remain cautious. According to a survey of 651 people conducted by KREI, 70.4 percent said they will not consume U.S. beef when it begins to be imported again. As for their safety should the U.S. imports begin again, seven out of 10 people polled expressed worry. A major problem is that on the shelves or at restaurants, consumers have no means of distinguishing imported U.S. beef from South Korea’s homegrown meat. Concerns are mounting that imported meat could be passed off as locally-produced in order to appeal to health-concerned consumers. "In the end, meat that consumers do not want to buy will find its way to others who are not in a position to choose what they eat, such as hospital patients, students, and soldiers," a health official said.
