“South Korea Tightens Controls on US Beef Imports following BSE Detection”

SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) — South Korea on Monday began tightening preventive epidemiological controls on U.S. beef imports following the report of a case of the cow disease. locas, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The ministry said it increased sampling inspections carried out on US beef from 3 percent to 10 percent after the US announced last week an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). as mad cow disease, in a beef cow, in a South Carolina plant.

It was the seventh BSE detection in the US since 2003, according to foreign media reports.

The South Korean government has requested additional information on the case from the US, in order to develop the necessary epidemiological prevention measures in consultation with the relevant authorities and experts.

The US Department of Agriculture said the animal never entered slaughter channels and it did not expect any commercial impact as a result.

The US was the largest beef exporter to South Korea last year, while US beef accounted for 54.1 percent of South Korea’s total beef imports of 474,511 tons. .

The volume and market share of US beef imports are the highest levels since South Korea opened its market to US beef in 2008.

[email protected]

(FIN)