If, as expected, a committee made up of South Korean ranchers, scientists and consumer groups approves ending the ban on U.S. beef Wednesday, it will still be mid-year before shipments will be sent to the United States' second largest Asian market.
"Scientific evidence points to no health risks associated with consumption of U.S. beef, so the government anticipates" agreement from an independent livestock quarantine committee to reopen the South Korean market to U.S. beef by mid-2006, said Park Hyun-chool, head of livestock at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The quarantine committee was set to meet Wednesday, and Park told Yonhap News Agency that the main stumbling block will be authorizing U.S. plants to export to South Korea. Many U.S. sources expected Seoul to follow Japan's lead quickly, but Park said that it will take months to inspect and designate processors once the decision to end the beef ban is made.
Source: by Pete Hisey on Wednesday, December 14, 2005, Meatingplace.com