SEOUL: South Korea yesterday lifted its ban on US beef imports despite growing protests over fears of mad cow disease as it struggles to ratify a sweeping free trade deal with the world’s biggest economy.
Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-Chun said the imports would resume under new rules prioritising the public’s health, but the opposition decried the move and thousands of people protested later yesterday.
“The government has fixed new sanitary conditions for importing beef,” Chung said in a speech covered live on television. “The government will prioritise public health and safety in carrying out its policies.”
He said the US beef imports would be thoroughly inspected and apologised for failing to prevent the spread of anxiety over mad cow disease. Seoul and Washington have previously said US beef is totally safe.
But police said more than 7,000 people held a candle-light rally late yesterday in Seoul to protest the end of the ban, continuing a spate of similar demonstrations over recent days.
They carried placards demanding the resignation of President Lee Myung-Bak, who was elected in February on a platform of revitalising the economy, and shouted, ‘The beef deal is invalid!’, with police on alert nearby.
Protesters led by housewives clutching their babies also marched near the heavily guarded US embassy, while some 1,200 anti-riot officers were sent to protect 12 beef cold storage depots near Seoul.
“This day will go into history as a national humiliation day when the country sold out its rights to protect public health,” said Cha Young, the spokeswoman for the main opposition United Democratic Party.
But Philip Seng, the president of the US Meat Export Federation, said the government’s decision would give South Korean consumers a wider choice of beef.
“We will continue to do our best to build trust among South Korean consumers on our safe and high quality beef products,” he said in a statement released in Seoul.
The resumption of beef imports is a pre-condition for Washington’s approval of the separate free trade agreement with South Korea, which some analysts say could boost annual trade between the two nations by $20bn.
Lee’s government sees the agreement signed last year as crucial to making South Korea more competitive over the long-term. - AFP
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