Yonhap | 16 August 2010
U.S. beef exports to Korea more than doubled in 1st half: USMEF
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- U.S. beef exports to South Korea rose sharply during the first six months of the year, industry sources said Monday, with some politicians demanding the restricted shipment of beef be addressed before the ratification of the pending free trade deal with South Korea.
U.S. beef exports to South Korea rose 130 percent to US$225 million in the first half, the U.S. Meat Export Federation said on its Web site.
The figure exceeds last year's total shipments of $216 million to South Korea, the fourth-largest importer of U.S. beef products, but falls short of the $815 million recorded in 2003, when South Korea banned imports of U.S. beef due to fears over bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease in the U.S.
Beef is not an issue covered by the Korea Free Trade Agreement, signed in 2007, but a food safety issue addressed separately.
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and some other politicians, however, have threatened not to move for the approval of the Korea FTA unless South Korea allows shipments of beef from cattle of all ages. Montana is said to be the biggest source of beef from older cattle.
South Korea's current ban prohibits shipments of beef from cattle older than 30 months due to concerns over mad cow disease.
The U.S. beef industry has called for a cautious approach, fearing a possible backlash in the Korean market, where U.S. beef shipments have grown rapidly since South Korea resumed imports in 2008 after a five-year hiatus.
Undersecretary of Agriculture Jim Miller said earlier this month that the U.S. has not yet made a decision on whether wider access to the Korean beef market should be a precondition for the FTA's ratification.
"We're not sure whether those are the same path, or whether they could potentially be two different paths, and that requires consultation here at home before we start making additional proposals to the South Koreans," he said.
The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE, has classified the U.S. as "a controlled risk country," meaning the U.S. can export beef with minor limits to certain cuts that may transmit mad cow disease to humans.
Japan prohibits shipments of beef from cattle over 20 months old.
Exports to Japan increased 29 percent to $270 million during the January-June period, according to the USMEF.
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said last month that he was not sure if Washington will raise the beef issue, saying that it does not necessarily guarantee an increase in U.S. beef shipments due to concerns over safety.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said this month that he will sideline issues other than autos and beef in negotiations with South Korea to meet the deadline presented by President Obama for the FTA's ratification.
In June, Obama ordered Kirk to complete talks with South Korea over autos and beef before he flies to Seoul for a G-20 economic summit meeting in November so that he could present the deal to Congress early next year.
Autos and beef have served as major hurdles to the ratification of the Korea FTA.
Last month, Kirk and Kim spoke on the phone.
"We came up with a broad construct for how we think we ought to move, going forward," Kirk said. "We will continue to work on this so that we can meet the president's deadline, to see if we can't have an agreement in place by the time he visits Korea in November."
Kim said last month that negotiations will begin in late September.
The U.S. exported 5,878 autos to South Korea last year, while South Korean auto shipments to the U.S. totaled 476,833, according to the statistics by the United Auto Workers.
Kim said last month Seoul is ready to address any problems to be raised by the U.S. on non-tariff barriers or unfair trade practices, but added, "It is a wrong approach if the U.S. calls for a balance in the trade of certain products."
