South Korea's Market Now Open to Canadian Beef

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CBC News Jan 20, 2012

South Korea's markets are once again open to Canadian beef imports after an eight-year ban, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Friday.

South Korea stopped buying Canadian beef after bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, hit in 2003.

Ritz said Friday morning that South Korea's government had served official notice that it will allow Canadian beef under 30 months to be imported effective immediately.

"This announcement is a big step forward for Canada's beef producers and processors," he said at an event in Spruce Grove, Alta. "We appreciate South Korea taking this important step."

In late December, Ritz said South Korea had taken a "big step"' towards allowing imports of Canadian beef to resume.

After years of emphasizing that there is no scientific basis for the ban, Canada had sought a World Trade Organization panel to review the ban on Canadian beef.

Last June, Ottawa and Seoul agreed on a process to restore access by the end of 2011, prompting Canada to formally request a suspension of the WTO proceedings.

South Korea was the last major Asian market to ban Canadian beef.

Canada Beef Inc., the marketing division of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, had said reopening the market could be worth $30 million to Canadian producers by 2015.

Prior to the ban, South Korea was Canada's fourth-largest beef market.

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