Beef negotiations between Korea and US ends without breakthr
Korea and the US held bilateral meetings concerning resuming South Korean imports of US beef, but they wrapped up their two-day meeting without a specific breakthrough. It is reported that the South has strongly refused to import US beef found with bone fragments.
Analysts say that the result of this meeting would be likely to influence the upcoming Korean-US FTA negotiations to be held in Washington next week. However, both sides have agreed to hold additional dialogues to bridge the different positions.
A source said that during the talks at the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service in Anyang City, both sides fiercely discussed Korea's beef investigation policy on the security of US beef bone fragments, but they did not narrow their stances at all.
According to a source, the US insisted that it is not proper to refuse all US beef imports due to some boxes that included beef bone fragments, revealing its uncomfortable mind. Seoul has sent back some US beef boxes and the rest have been discarded.
Meanwhile, the South responded that it is important to permit only boneless beef to be imported for national health security; whereas, the US delegation continued to stress that bone fragments found in American beef exports were not related to causing mad cow disease. Seoul believes that beef bone contains pathogenic organisms causing diseases.
In the end, the two sides agreed to hold additional negotiations in the near future to bridge their differences. Prior to the negotiations, some agricultural civic groups blocked the venue where the beef negotiations were held.
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 / 입력시간: 2007. 02.10. 07:42
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