South Korea’s ministry of food,agriculture, forestry and fisheries is denying reports that the country plansto resume beef imports from Canada next year.
The ministry said in astatement Nov. 25 that it is preparing for hearings before the World TradeOrganization on Canada’s appeal over South Korea’s ban on Canadian beef.
Earlier, some media outletsspeculated that Seoul is preparing for negotiations with Ottawa on lifting thebeef import ban, under the judgment that the trade-governing body is likely to takeCanada’s side in the case.
A three-man dispute panel wasformed by the WTO in August, at the request of Canada.
South Korea banned all beefimports from Canada in May 2003, after the first Canadian case of BSE wasconfirmed.
Except for China, South Koreais the only country that has refused to reopen its borders to Canadian beefsince then.?
Before the ban, Korea wasCanada’s fourth-largest destination for beef exports following the UnitedStates, Australia and New Zealand, exporting about 16,000 tonnes or about $40million Cdn worth of meat annually.?
The case is drawing attentionfrom other countries that are interested in tapping into the South Koreanmarket. Aside from the United States and the European Union (EU), countriesincluding Brazil, Argentina, China, India and Japan applied to observe theprocess at the WTO panel.
