South Korea will halt customs clearance of
U.S. beef imports after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in six years was
found in a dairy cow in central California, an agriculture
ministry official said.
The government will release details of inspections
“soon,” Park Sang Ho, an official at South Korea’s agricultural ministry, said
by phone. The agriculture office shortly after issued a statement saying it
will take the “necessary measures.”
South Korea, once the third-largest buyer of U.S.
beef, began restricting shipments in 2003, following the discovery of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow, in the U.S. herd. The Asian country
resumed imports of the meat from cattle younger than 30 months of age in June
2008. This is the fourth BSE case found in the U.S. herd , and the first since
March 2006.
“It’s a pressing matter because we are concerned
consumers will shy away from U.S. beef,” Choi Jong Sun, chairman of the Korea
Meat Importers’ Association, said today by phone fromSeoul. “The concern about mad cow
has faded over the past few years. We are closely watching the impact on demand
and what the government will do.”
The cow was identified as part of routine testing
for the brain-wasting disease, John Clifford, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s chief veterinarian, said yesterday. It was discovered before it
entered the human food chain and posed any threat to consumers, Clifford said.
Futures
Rebound
Cattle futures rebounded after tumbling by the
exchange limit yesterday. Futures for June delivery climbed 0.3 percent to
$1.11925 a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange at 12:13 p.m. Tokyo time.
Futures fell 2.6 percent to settle at $1.11575 a pound yesterday to the lowest
level since July 1 and the biggest percentage drop on a most-active contract
since May 23.
Harim Co. (136480), a maker of canned chicken breasts and
nuggets, rose 4.8 percent and Dong Won Fisheries Co., a deep-sea fishing
company, gained 9 percent in Seoul trading on speculation demand for poultry
and seafood will increase after the new U.S. mad cow case.
“The agricultural ministry is studying the case and
considering what actions will be taken for the U.S. beef imports,” South
Korea’s Finance Minister Bahk Jae Wan told reporters in Seoul today. “Possible
steps may include halting the customs clearance.”
Japan,
Taiwan
South Korea’s move comes even as Japan said it won’t
suspend imports, according to Minoru Yamamoto, director at the ministry’s
international animal health affairs office. Taiwan will maintain its curbs on
beef from countries that have reported mad-cow disease, Council of Agriculture
Chief Secretary Tai Yu-yen said today.
Baker Commodities Inc. said the case was at its
Hanford deadstock plant, where dead livestock are held before going to a
rendering plant. The animal arrived at the plant April 18 and all test samples
are sent to the University of
California at Davis, Dennis Luckey, executive vice president of
operations at Los Angeles-based Baker, said in a phone interview. The animal
was at least 30 months old and the disease was discovered as part of random
testing conducted to meet USDA quotas, he said.
‘System
Working’
The discovery of mad cow disease in California shows
that the government’s surveillance system is working, and the U.S. beef and
milk supply is safe, Guy Loneragan, an epidemiologist and professor of food safety and public
health at Texas Tech University, said on a conference call with reporters
organized by the National
Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
In 2003, after the first case of the disease, dozens
of countries shuttered their doors to U.S. shipments.
Losses to livestock producers and meatpackers ranged
from $2.5 billion to $3.1 billion annually from 2004 through 2007, according to
the International Trade Commission. Nations including Japan and China have maintained some
restrictions ever since.
Bloomberg
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