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South Korea said Thursday it has suspended quarantine inspections of all U.S. beef imports due to its recent discovery of banned bones in shipments.

South Korea discovered a box of vertebral columns, designated as "specified risk material" that could potentially cause mad cow disease, in an 18.7 ton shipment the U.S. sent to Seoul in late July.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said it halted the quarantine inspections as of Wednesday. The ministry said it could re-impose a ban on imports of American beef if the U.S. government does not take appropriate follow-up measures.

"We could ban U.S. beef imports if Washington's follow-up measures are not sufficient enough to ensure the safety of the U.S.

beef," a ministry official said.

If South Korea is provided with sufficient evidence that there will not be a recurrence, the government will lift the suspension, the official said.

South Korea's Agriculture Minister also said the government does not want the issue to have a negative impact on the proposed free trade deal with the United States.

"The incident is related to a country's quarantine inspection procedures, not the free trade agreement between the two sides," Park Hong-soo told reporters. Seoul and Washington signed the deal in late June and lawmakers are pushing to ratify the deal.

The quarantine suspension comes about two months after South Korea lifted its temporary restrictions on U.S. beef imports after the discovery of bone fragments in shipments.

In early June, the government lifted the temporary ban on U.S.

beef imports that was imposed in early May when bone fragments were discovered in beef shipments from plants owned by Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc.

The move could deal a setback to U.S. attempts to regain access to the domestic market without restrictions. South Korea had previously been one of the major buyers of U.S. beef.

Seoul imposed a ban on American beef imports in late 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was reported in the United States. South Korea agreed in early January to resume imports, but only boneless beef from cattle under 30 months old.
SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Yonhap News)