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Gyeonggi Province on April 24. The banners say “Cancel the beef import agreement.” The U.S. announced that it would tighten regulations on animal feed

U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months is expected to be on tables in South Korea soon due to an announcement from the United States that it will apply stricter restrictions on animal feed. Japan, on the other hand, immediately imposed a ban on imports of U.S. beef after a spinal column, considered one of the specific risk materials that carries the risk of mad cow disease, was found in a shipment of American meat.

On April 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has banned the use of high-risk materials derived from cattle, such as brains and spinal cords, in all animal feed as part of its efforts to prevent mad cow disease. The restrictions take effect in 12 months. Under the beef agreement reached between South Korea and the United States on April 18, South Korea is required to import beef from cattle older than 30 months after stricter controls on animal feed are announced. Cattle above 30 months are at a higher risk of contracting the disease.

With the United States announcing the tightened rules less than a week after the beef deal, American meat will be imported to South Korea from next month with no limits on the age of the cattle from which the meat is cut. Given the fact that the stricter controls on animal feed will not take effect for another year, imports of U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months will not be subject to the restrictions until April 2009. However, even when the new restrictions go into effect, it is uncertain whether the U.S. meat industry will be able to implement them properly. This is one clear example of how the South Korean government was pressured by the U.S. government in the beef negotiations.

What’s problematic is that the new rules are far below the standards employed in the European Union and Japan. Currently, the EU requires its beef industry to demolish skulls unconditionally, along with brains, eyeballs, spinal cords, backbones, small intestines and mesenteries from cattle older than 12 months. Japan also requires its beef industry to remove and incinerate heads, spinal cords, backbones and the end-parts of the small intestine from cattle of all ages.

When the Japanese government found a spinal cord, considered a high-risk material for mad cow disease, in a shipment of U.S. beef, it tightened its quarantine inspections on new beef shipments.

In a press conference, also on April 24, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said that the Japanese health ministry “took the step of increasing the rate of inspections of U.S. beef shipments to 10 percent, from the current 1 percent.” A day ago, the Japanese government banned U.S. beef exporter National Beef California, which shipped the cargo containing the spinal cord, from exporting beef to Japan.

The Japanese government did not impose a full ban on U.S. beef imports, however, citing an isolated case of a mistake in packaging. However, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported that the discovery of banned materials would deal a blow to the negotiating power of the United States, which has called on Japan to fully reopen its beef market. The Japanese government, which has been considering easing curbs on U.S. beef imports to allow meat from cattle younger than 30 months, from the previous restriction of 20 months, is expected to use the discovery of banned material as a bargaining chip in beef negotiations with the United States.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]