South Korea has not yet said when it will lift restrictions on Canadian beef, even after assurances from federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz last week that Canada’s beef is safe.
The temporary ban was imposed after a cow tested positive for BSE in Alberta last month.
Ritz and others, including Canadian Cattlemen’s Association president Dave Solverson, were on a trade mission to South Korea, Vietnam and Japan.
Speaking to reporters by conference call from Tokyo March 20, Ritz said he met with his counterpart, Lee Dong-Phil, and reminded him that Canada retains controlled risk status for BSE, and continues to take proper steps to remove specified risk material and keep positive carcasses out of the food chain.
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He said he told the minister he expects South Korea to recognize that and base its decisions on science.
“They seem to be going more on the court of public opinion as opposed to using science as the right tool to move forward in this regard,” he said.
A South Korean delegation is visiting Canada this week, and Ritz said he hoped that would underscore Canada’s words and actions.
He also said that neither of the other two countries even raised BSE as an issue.
“We actually brought it up to assure them that we understood it could be an issue,” he said.
Japan has previously restricted imports but didn’t this time and even took some of the beef that was en route to South Korea when the positive case was announced.
“The only question they had was when can you send us more beef,” Solverson said of his talks with Vietnamese and Japanese officials.
Ritz said China took all the beef in the queue before it halted shipments. Taiwan, Peru and Belarus also imposed temporary bans, while Indonesia suspended imports of non-edible bone meal.
Ritz and Canadian grain officials also met with Japanese importers and millers to promote sales and reassure them that grain is moving to port. Ritz said wheat exports to Japan rose by one-third last year.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
