ISDS Case Map
food safety | SPS
The “People's Countermeasure Council against Full Resumption of Imports of US Beef Endangered with Mad Cow Disease,” an umbrella organization of Korean civic groups and cyber activists issued a statement on June 3 saying that the government "needs to decide for sure that it will fully and permanently prohibit the importation of beef [from US cattle over 30 months old], and demand that the US accept this.”
Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun said that until the two nations reach an agreement on the age limit of cattle when they are slaughtered for meat to be exported to South Korea, Seoul will not implement its revised sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards. The move effectively allows South Korea to keep its import ban on US beef that has been in place since early October.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions calls on the Korean government to repeal the US beef deal, stop the violence of the riot police and respect people's voices and rights.
South Korea decided Monday to put off the implementation of its decision to resume US beef imports, the agriculture ministry said in the wake of widespread protests.
South Korean police's brutal suppression toward ever-growing anti-US beef demonstrations by its citizen became the key issue as the confrontation between police and protesters got more fierce.
"Not just the beef deal, but the Lee Myung-bak government's policies are anti-working people and are not right," college student Ju Ha-na, who took part in a head-shaving ceremony in protest, said.
Farmers, professors and veterans, and citizens protest the government's announcement about U.S. beef import
As the government of South Korea notified the public that it will implement new import rules for US beef imports on May 29, civic organizations, labor groups and Internet users are strongly denouncing the move. They plan to take steps to block distribution and consumption of the American meat, while warning of a “nationwide, anti-government fight".
South Korea's political opposition asked the Constitutional Court on Friday to block U.S. beef from entering the country after the government announced it would resume imports within days under an accord with Washington.
South Korea and the United States are continuing consultations on the controversial issue of beef trade, with public protests here over a related deal showing no signs of abating, the top U.S. envoy here said Monday.
