Seoul to reconsider imports of US beef if mad cow case confirmed: official
13/3/2006 16:10
South Korea may again ban imports of US beef if tests confirm a suspected
mad cow case in the United States reported over the weekend, a South Korean
government official said today.
"We are keeping close tabs on the latest mad
cow report and will take appropriate actions depending on the results of a more
detailed test," said Lee Yang-ho, spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry.
The US Department of Agriculture said last Saturday
that a cow showed signs of the mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE), a fatal disease that causes progressive neurological
degeneration in cattle.
Moreover, evidence indicates that humans may acquire
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) - a rare, degenerative, invariably fatal brain
disorder - after consuming BSE-contaminated cattle products.
He said that if
the second test comes out positive, South Korea and the US will have to
renegotiate everything concerning to an earlier agreement reached between the
two sides on reopening the local market to US beef in early 2006, hinting Seoul
may halt imports of US beef again.
Seoul halted US beef imports in late 2003
because of a confirmed mad cow case in the United States.
Xinhua
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