hankyoreh

South Korea's quarantine service said Wednesday it has found in a shipment of American beef two boxes of U.S. beef ribs, which cannot be brought into the country under current import rules.

The boxes containing 53 kilograms of ribs were part of a 15.2 ton shipment that arrived in Busan on May 25, the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) said.

"The two boxes were packed full of chuck short ribs so they were easily noticed by our inspectors," said Kang Mun-il, head of the state-run service under the Agriculture Ministry.

He said Seoul immediately ordered a suspension of all imports from the meat processing company that shipped the rib-filled boxes.

Notice of the decision to halt imports from the meat processing company has been forwarded to the U.S. government.

The NVRQS chief said the entire shipment has been put on hold pending an investigation into the matter by South Korean and U.S. authorities. The animal quarantine expert hinted that there is a chance that the 15-ton shipment could be sent back.

"If the latest incident involved bone chips, only individual boxes would be sent back but because these were sizeable bone-in beef parts, there is a need to determine whether there are any serious problems with the exporter," Kang said.

The director general, however, said Seoul did not plan to reinstate a ban on all American beef since tests on the ribs showed they were not tainted with specified risk materials (SRMs).

Seoul said that if SRM materials are found in U.S. beef shipments it would halt all imports.

SRMs, which pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to humans, include head bones, brains, vertebral columns, spinal cords, dorsal root ganglions and some internal organs.

South Korea banned imports of beef from the U.S. in December 2003 after mad cow disease was reported in that country. Before the ban, Korea was the third-largest importer of U.S. beef after Japan and Mexico. Of the imports, roughly 60 percent were bone-in beef such as ribs.

The ban was partially lifted after an agreement was reached in January 2006 that allowed boneless U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months old to be imported.

The United States formally requested a revision to the rule last week. Seoul said it would hold talks to discuss necessary changes based on international standards and scientific evidence.
SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap News)