Report: Government halts inspection of U.S. beef shipments
1:00 AM
Posted: Friday, October 05, 2007
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea suspended quarantine inspections of U.S. beef imports after a banned bone piece was found in a recent shipment, a news report said Friday.
Without such inspections, American beef cannot be brought into the market.
A 4-inch piece of neck bone was found in a shipment that arrived in South Korea earlier this week, news cable channel YTN reported. The bone material is considered to be "specified risk material," such as the vertebral column, brain, skull, eyes, spinal cord and other nerve tissue, all of which can carry mad cow disease.
Last year, South Korea agreed to import only boneless U.S. meat from cattle under 30 months old, lifting an almost three-year ban on American beef after mad cow disease was discovered in the U.S.
South Korea, however, has suspended quarantine inspections when banned material has been discovered in shipments.
Scientists believe mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. The disease is also believed to be linked to the rare but fatal human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
South Korea was the third-largest foreign market for American beef before it banned imports in December 2003.
Without such inspections, American beef cannot be brought into the market.
A 4-inch piece of neck bone was found in a shipment that arrived in South Korea earlier this week, news cable channel YTN reported. The bone material is considered to be "specified risk material," such as the vertebral column, brain, skull, eyes, spinal cord and other nerve tissue, all of which can carry mad cow disease.
Last year, South Korea agreed to import only boneless U.S. meat from cattle under 30 months old, lifting an almost three-year ban on American beef after mad cow disease was discovered in the U.S.
South Korea, however, has suspended quarantine inspections when banned material has been discovered in shipments.
Scientists believe mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. The disease is also believed to be linked to the rare but fatal human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
South Korea was the third-largest foreign market for American beef before it banned imports in December 2003.
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