Wheels coming off U.S.-South Korean beef deal
Posted by Truth About Trade & Technology
Thursday, 05 June 2008
Brownfield Ag Network
by Peter Shinn
Original Publish Date: June 4, 2008
Anyone who thought the U.S. had a deal with South
Korea over beef may well be mistaken. It now
appears political pressure in South Korea may
unravel a pact initially announced in April.
The U.S.-South Korean beef deal, which was
supposed to have taken effect Tuesday, is now in a
state of flux, as daily street protests in Seoul
against the agreement are threatening to de-rail it
completely. South Korean President Lee Myung-
bak's approval rating is between 20% and 30% and
his government is asking if the U.S. would agree to
ship only beef from cattle 30 months of age and
younger.
On April 1st, South Korean Ambassador Lee Tae-
sik assured Brownfield during a joint press
conference with Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman
in Omaha that a new deal on beef would comply
with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
guidelines. So what’s happened since?
John Reddington is Vice President of International
Trade for the American Meat Institute (AMI). He told
Brownfield the seeds of the current debacle were
sown through Internet rumors spread by a pair of
South Korean teenagers.
"This started with a couple of high school bloggers
who used misinformation that was picked up by
other school kids, by the school teachers' union,"
Reddington said.
Among the inaccuracies that were swiftly
disseminated were stories that South Korean's are
genetically predisposed to contract variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), the human form
of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and
that U.S. consumers refuse to eat American beef.
Those falsehoods, according to Reddington, were
then seized upon by opponents of the pending U.S.
– South Korean free trade agreement and a mass-
movement developed.
So will the U.S. renegotiate the beef deal?
Reddington said AMI is still waiting to hear from
USDA. And in the meantime, as South Korea’s ban
on U.S. beef moves through its fifth year,
Reddington had this sentiment.
"It's frustrating to everybody," he sighed. "We're just
beside ourselves with frustration."
The bigger issue may be the pending U.S.-Korea
Free Trade Agreement (FTA). And if the wheels do
come of the U.S.-South Korean beef deal, Nebraska
Democratic Senator Ben Nelson told Brownfield
Congressional approval of the FTA is out of the
question.
"The answer is no," Nelson said. "In the absence of
a functioning agreement regarding the full
importation of U.S. beef under the OIE guidelines,
there is no way the trade agreement is going to be
approved. It just can't happen."
Nelson added that he hates to tell anyone "he told
them so." But Nelson also pointed out he publicly
warned back in April against getting too excited
about any so-called deal on beef with South Korea
until such a deal was actually in place and working
for a while.
Posted by Truth About Trade & Technology
Thursday, 05 June 2008
Brownfield Ag Network
by Peter Shinn
Original Publish Date: June 4, 2008
Anyone who thought the U.S. had a deal with South
Korea over beef may well be mistaken. It now
appears political pressure in South Korea may
unravel a pact initially announced in April.
The U.S.-South Korean beef deal, which was
supposed to have taken effect Tuesday, is now in a
state of flux, as daily street protests in Seoul
against the agreement are threatening to de-rail it
completely. South Korean President Lee Myung-
bak's approval rating is between 20% and 30% and
his government is asking if the U.S. would agree to
ship only beef from cattle 30 months of age and
younger.
On April 1st, South Korean Ambassador Lee Tae-
sik assured Brownfield during a joint press
conference with Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman
in Omaha that a new deal on beef would comply
with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
guidelines. So what’s happened since?
John Reddington is Vice President of International
Trade for the American Meat Institute (AMI). He told
Brownfield the seeds of the current debacle were
sown through Internet rumors spread by a pair of
South Korean teenagers.
"This started with a couple of high school bloggers
who used misinformation that was picked up by
other school kids, by the school teachers' union,"
Reddington said.
Among the inaccuracies that were swiftly
disseminated were stories that South Korean's are
genetically predisposed to contract variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), the human form
of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and
that U.S. consumers refuse to eat American beef.
Those falsehoods, according to Reddington, were
then seized upon by opponents of the pending U.S.
– South Korean free trade agreement and a mass-
movement developed.
So will the U.S. renegotiate the beef deal?
Reddington said AMI is still waiting to hear from
USDA. And in the meantime, as South Korea’s ban
on U.S. beef moves through its fifth year,
Reddington had this sentiment.
"It's frustrating to everybody," he sighed. "We're just
beside ourselves with frustration."
The bigger issue may be the pending U.S.-Korea
Free Trade Agreement (FTA). And if the wheels do
come of the U.S.-South Korean beef deal, Nebraska
Democratic Senator Ben Nelson told Brownfield
Congressional approval of the FTA is out of the
question.
"The answer is no," Nelson said. "In the absence of
a functioning agreement regarding the full
importation of U.S. beef under the OIE guidelines,
there is no way the trade agreement is going to be
approved. It just can't happen."
Nelson added that he hates to tell anyone "he told
them so." But Nelson also pointed out he publicly
warned back in April against getting too excited
about any so-called deal on beef with South Korea
until such a deal was actually in place and working
for a while.