The United States has asked South Korea for a "consultation" meeting to address technical issues regarding exports of its beef, officials said Thursday.
"The U.S. has formally asked us to hold a meeting over the beef quarantine," said an official at the Agriculture Ministry. "The two sides are working on a concrete time table for the meeting."
Seoul re-opened its beef market to Washington in September, ending its import ban that lasted around three years.
But Seoul has rejected three shipments of U.S. beef following the discovery of bone fragments in the meat, which violates a bilateral agreement reached in January this year for the resumption of American beef imports.
During the latest bilateral free trade talks held in Montana, the U.S. expressed deep concerns over South Korea's decision, and Washington's chief negotiator said the U.S. would ask to hold a consultation meeting on the beef dispute.
Though the beef quarantine issue is not technically related to free trade talks, U.S. officials have increased pressure on South Korea to ease the quarantine regulations.
"The U.S. is expected to raise the issues regarding the quarantine of the beef," said the official. "And the consultations will be focused on details of the quarantine process."
Last week, the two countries held five-day FTA talks in Montana, but failed to resolve differences in the most sensitive areas such as antidumping laws, autos and pharmaceuticals.
The two sides are to hold a sixth round of talks in South Korea next month, and hope to seal a deal by the end of March at the latest.
Seoul, Dec. 14 (Yonhap News)
U.S. proposes consultation meeting on beef dispute |
