South Korean lawmakers warned Wednesday they could propose that the government again ban imports of U.S. beef if Washington continues to demand that Seoul ease its quarantine inspection regulations.
South Korea, which resumed imports of U.S. beef after a three-year ban due to mad cow fears, has rejected three shipments of the American meat in recent months after bone fragments were found in them in violation of a bilateral agreement that requires Seoul to import only boneless U.S. beef.
"If the United States threatens the health of another country's people for its economic benefit, the National Assembly will submit a proposal to completely ban imports of U.S. beef," a statement signed by 17 lawmakers from the parliament's committee on agriculture, maritime and fisheries said.
"The U.S. should be aware that if the U.S. Congress continues to press with the beef quarantine issue, it will be viewed by most South Koreans as an infringement on their sovereignty," the statement said.
The beef issue has emerged as one of the major hurdles in talks between South Korea and the U.S. on a proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
While the beef matter is not technically a subject of the trade talks, Washington's trade officials and U.S. meat industry groups have pressed Seoul to ease what they call strict quarantine rules.
At the end of the latest round of free trade talks in Montana, top U.S. negotiator Wendy Cutler warned that if South Korea doesn't fully open its beef market, an FTA between the two nations won't be approved by the U.S. Congress.
"In particular, the government should not ease quarantine rules for U.S. beef to irrationally push forward talks on a proposed free trade agreement between South Korea and the U.S.," the statement said. Last week, South Korea's Agriculture Ministry announced that traces of dioxin, a cancer-causing chemical, were found in the third rejected shipment of U.S. beef, raising public fears of beef from the U.S.
On Dec. 12, the ministry said the U.S. asked South Korea for a "technical consultation meeting" to discuss the rejections of the U.S. beef.
The meeting may be held in the first week of next month before South Korea and the U.S. hold a sixth round of FTA talks in the week of Jan. 15, a ministry official said, declining to be identified.
At the planned meeting, the U.S. is expected to request that South Korea import "bone-in" beef, depending on the size of the bones, the official said.
However, a senior ministry official said recently the request may not be accepted.
Lee Sang-kil, director of the ministry's livestock bureau, said that "Of the 14 nations that import deboned U.S. beef, no country has quarantine inspection rules depending on the size of bones."
Seoul, Dec. 27 (Yonhap News)
S. Korean lawmakers threaten to reimpose ban on U.S. beef imports |
