Korea is the only country among the top six destinations of U.S. meat, other than Canada, that has agreed to fully open its market to U.S. beef, government data showed yesterday.
Limits on the age or cuts of U.S. beef products have been imposed by Mexico, Japan, Taiwan and China/Hong Kong, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Canada allows beef imports from its neighbor to the south with almost no restrictions.
Seoul agreed earlier this month to gradually open its market to boneless and bone-in U.S. beef from animals of any age, in return for a U.S. promise to enhance safety standards.
Mexico is the largest market for U.S. beef with $1.1 billion worth of beef imports, followed by Canada with $620.3 million, Japan with 244.3 million, Korea with 118.8 million, Taiwan with 172.1 million, and China/Hong Kong with 36.3 million as of last year, the U.S. Meat Export Federation said.
The imports of the six countries represented 87.6 percent of the value of exports of U.S. beef in 2007, according to the U.S. federation.
Korea was included in the top six nations, although shipments were limited to boneless meat from cattle less than 30 months old, and the market was only open for five months last year.
Korea, which banned U.S. beef imports in December 2003 due to mad cow disease fears, partially opened its market to U.S. beef in January 2006, accepting only boneless beef from cattle younger than 30 months old. But it suspended imports in October after bone fragments deemed risky were repeatedly found in shipments.
The latest beef agreement is expected to help Washington increase pressure on other Asian nations to fully open their markets to U.S. beef.
"South Korea has raised the bar for other Asian nations such as Japan, Taiwan and China, and the United States will continue to press for full market access through the rest of the Pacific Rim so that unreasonable restrictions on U.S. beef and beef products are fully removed," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said in a statement released shortly after the agreement was made.
The United States exports its beef to 96 nations with few conditions, but those countries are not major importers of U.S. beef.
Korea is the only country among the top six destinations of U.S. meat, other than Canada, that has agreed to fully open its market to U.S. beef. Seoul agreed earlier this month to gradually open its market to boneless and bone-in U.S. beef from animals of any age, in return for a U.S. promise to enhance safety standards. South Korea has raised the bar for other Asian nations such as Japan, Taiwan and China, and the United States will continue to press for full market access through the rest of the Pacific Rim so that unreasonable restrictions on U.S. beef and beef products are fully removed,"
I think that the president of Korea try to make the market economy which encourage the harsh competition among the supplier. But the matter of mad cow desease dosen't be solved, the desease can threat the nation's health. So I think that these decision would be concerned about the health, desease and economy.
20200041 kwon hyuck sung(late)
