Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz issued an ultimatum to South Korea last week – present Canada with a reasonable timeline next week for when Canadian beef will be accepted into the country or else.
He told a March 20 news conference call that the “or else” includes the likelihood of a World Trade Organization challenge, a stall in Canada-Korea free trade talks and loss of face and honour for the Koreans for not living up to trade obligations.
After a whirlwind trip to Seoul to present what he called an ultimatum, Ritz sounded both frustrated and aggressive when he spoke to reporters from the Vancouver airport.
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He said he wants to see Canadian beef welcome in the Korean market this spring, just as Australian and American beef now has access.
“We left the Koreans with no illusion that the free trade talks are on hold until we get the beef issue worked through and resolved to Canadian producers’ benefit,” he said. “The ball is in Korea’s court and the clock is ticking. It makes it very difficult to move forward (in trade talks) when they want to just hive off a very significant part of our exports and hold it while we move forward with all the smiles and chuckles.”
He accused the Koreans of hiding away from their obligations because of their physical distance from Canada. He said they are scrambling to justify their position.
The trip to Seoul was “to make sure that nothing got lost in translation,” he said.
“They seemed rattled yesterday that we actually flew over and met with them face to face to deliver this message,” said Ritz.
The minister said he is willing to play the cultural pride card if that’s what it takes.
“I think for them to remain honourable in the eyes of the world, they have to live up to sound science and their WTO requirements.”
Ritz said Canada has answered all of Korea’s questions about this country’s BSE control and food inspection system and is prepared to answer any other questions it has but it is not prepared to give in to protectionist politics.
As in other countries, Canada would be prepared to agree to a partial opening for meat from younger cattle as long as there was a path open to full access.
Ritz noted that Canada shipped $50 million worth of beef to Korea before BSE.
Last week, the Canadian Beef Export Federation annual meeting heard that the U.S. gained restricted access to the Korean market last summer and shipped more than 32,000 tonnes of under 30 months beef by year end.
Although Canadian beef is excluded from the market, CBEF still plans to spend about $400,000 this fiscal year to give Canadian beef a profile in the Korean market.
And it dreams of selling 21,000 tonnes of beef into Korea by 2015 if the market opens.
