Six American beef plants that had been barred from selling in South Korea, including Emporia’s Tyson plant, will be allowed to enter that market again, U.S. officials announced Tuesday.
South Korea had closed the door to the plants, owned by Cargill and Tyson, in June after a third-party vendor shipped meat that was intended for U.S. consumption only. Korean standards only allow boneless meat from cattle that are less than 30 months old to be imported.
U.S. Rep Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, this morning called the news a welcome development.
“It appears to me that in a relatively short period of time, they were able to reach the conclusion that this is not a widespread problem,” Moran said
In a release Tuesday, Sen. Pat Roberts said the decision “inches us closer to normal beef trade with Korea.”
“There is still much progress to be made as we consider our free-trade agreements,” he said.
Besides the Emporia plant, South Korea’s action also affects Tyson plants in Amarillo, Texas; Lexington, Neb.; and Finney County in western Kansas, as well as Cargill plants in Dodge City and in Fort Morgan, Colo.
At one time, South Korea was second only to Japan as a market for U.S. beef. That changed in 2003 when the United States reported its first case of mad cow disease, found in a cow of Canadian origin. Japan and South Korea closed their markets and didn’t reopen them until 2006, requiring meatpackers to meet more stringent standards than before.
Recapturing the Korean market proved difficult, even after the official re-opening of trade in September. Every American shipment to South Korea between the September and December was rejected — 22 tons of meat — after bone chips the size of a pea were found.
This year, the U.S. has sold more than 500 tons of beef to South Korea, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Moran called the amount “minuscule” compared to former levels and said that further negotiations were needed to open the market further.
“Even with Japan, we’re seeing about 10 percent of what we did before the ban,” Moran said.
“My impression is we have the South Korean government’s attention,” he added. “I hate to be overly optimistic because every time we see a sign of progress, they find an excuse to shut the market down. But it seems to me they did resume trade more quickly ... so maybe there’s some improvement.”
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Posted by daveedailey (anonymous) on June 27, 2007 at 3:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That is a good place to send it!!
Posted by cyberspace (anonymous) on June 30, 2007 at 8:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh joy, get ready for even more refugees and illegal immigrants to come to town to help Tyson stuff their pockets!
They must be herding the African/Somali refugees through like cattle until they find enough of them who are willing to stay. With as many that have come to town that plant should be almost 100% refugee staffed by now.
Those poor people probably don't know what they're getting into. You have to give some kudos to the ones who have stuck around long enough to make a difference.
And how bout those South Koreans! TB running rampant through their country and all they can do is worry about an isolated case of mad cow! The games people play.
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