S.Korea takes steps to lift ban on Canadian beef

Seoul, which will resume imports from cattle aged under 30 months, is the last key Asian market to lift a ban on Canadian beef imposed following an outbreak of mad cow disease.

Consequently, Ottawa will ask the World Trade Organisation to drop the complaint filed against Seoul in 2009.

South Korea Tuesday published health requirements through its government gazette, the first official step to resuming Canadian imports, which have been banned since 2003, a senior agriculture ministry official said.

"The public notice procedure will continue until July 18 and we plan to go to parliament around July 25 to request approval of the agreement," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Specified risk materials, including tonsils, internal organs and intestines, that pose the greatest risk of passing on mad cow disease to humans, will continue to be banned, along with brains, skulls, eyes and spinal cords.

Mechanically recovered meat and ground beef will also be banned, the ministry said.

In Ottawa, International Trade Minister Ed Fast welcomed the breakthrough.

"South Korea, as one of Canada's most important trade and investment partners in the Asia-Pacific region, offers tremendous opportunity for workers and businesses in important sectors across Canada," Fast said.

"This important step towards restored access is welcome news. On behalf of Canadian producers we will be closely monitoring South Korea's domestic process," he said in a statement posted on a government website.

The Canadian Beef Export Federation estimates that the agreement could earn more than $30 million a year for Canadian producers by 2015.

In 2002 South Korea was Canada's fourth biggest beef market. It imported 12,000 tonnes of Canadian beef worth $31 million, four per cent of all its beef imports of that year.

South Korea imposed its ban the following year when Canada reported a case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Canada gained "controlled BSE risk" status from the World Organisation for Animal Health in 2007, but South Korea refused to open its beef market because Ottawa reported 17 additional BSE cases since 2003.

South Korea lifted a similar ban on most US beef imports in 2008, a move that sparked weeks of street protests.