US beef exports get green light to South Korea

South Korea has agreed to readmit beef exports from the US. Australia's share of the market has grown by 120 per cent since US beef was banned in 2004, and is now worth $600 million.

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) says the resumption of the American beef trade could cut the value of our exports by more than 20 per cent. South Korea's Agriculture Ministry has just announced that 36 US slaughterhouses designated to handle meat for export to South Korea met required safety measures, clearing the last hurdle to the resumption of imports.

MLA Korean manager, Glen Feist says the Americans have had a tough time convincing the Koreans to accept meat with bone chip fragment.
"The protocol is no bones, but everybody knows in our industry that from time to time you do get bone chips on the primal cuts of beef through boning problems, especially in the biggest US plants," he said.

This may at the end of the day may hold things up further because they need to resolve the bone chip issue." Meanwhile, the US has only shipped 100 tonnes of beef to Japan, after regaining access to the market a month ago. The start of the export program has been slower than expected because of strict protocols and a lack of consumer demand.

Source: article.wn.com