South Korea Reopens Market to U.S. Beef, NCGA Notes (10-31-06)

South Korea accepted the first shipment of U.S. beef Monday, almost three years after the country closed its borders to the product, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) notes.

A Kansas slaughterhouse processed nine tons of sirloins and boneless rib, which is expected to go on sale in two weeks.

“The U.S. beef industry has an excellent and safe screening process, and I think our industry goes above and beyond the minimum testing requirements,” said Bill Chase, a corn and livestock producer and chairman of NCGA’s Production and Stewardship Action Team. “U.S. beef is a quality product, and it is good to have the South Korean market open again.”

Livestock is the number one customer for corn growers, consuming about 55 percent of the corn used in 2005. Beef cattle consumed more than 1.5 billion bushels of corn for the 2005-2006 marketing year.

South Korea halted imports of U.S. beef in December 2003 after the United States reported a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). At the time of the ban, South Korea imported more than 250,000 metric tonnes of U.S. beef at a total cost of $893 million.

In January 2006, South Korea agreed to import cattle younger than 30 months of age as long as the meat was boneless. However, the country kept the market closed over safety concerns.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will have an ongoing BSE surveillance program. USDA will inspect 40,000 animals each year, more than 10 times the testing level required by the World Animal Health organization.