S. Korea resolute on Canadian beef import ban: official

SEOUL, June 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will maintain a resolute stance to defend its interests if Canada refers Seoul's beef import ban to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement panel, a government official said Sunday.

The official from the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, who
declined to be identified, said there is no way to know if Canada will opt to ask
for arbitration, but Seoul will take active steps and deal with all developments.
The comments come as the deadline for bilateral negotiations comes due on Monday.
Under WTO rules on dispute settlements, a bilateral consultation is the first
step in working out a discord, with talks to begin within 30 days of the request
being officially filed. If no agreement is reached within 60 days of the request,
the complainant can ask for a dispute settlement panel to be set up that can make
a definitive ruling.
"It is our wish that Ottawa will accept certain conditions that reflect local
consumer concerns on Canadian beef," the working level official said.
He did not go into details, but pointed out that Canada reported 16 confirmed
cases of mad cow disease since 2003, making it hard for Seoul to allow complete
access to all beef cuts.
South Korea had banned all imports after May 2003 when the first mad cow disease
case was reported. The brain wasting illness is suspected of causing the fatal
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
"The number is far greater than the three reported in the United States so it
would be 'natural' if South Korea tried to limit what kind of beef cuts could be
brought into the country," the official said.
Canada has received the same "controlled risk" classification from the
Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health as the United States,
technically allowing it to export most beef cuts if parts of the small intestines
and tonsils are removed.
Ottawa has asked for the same level of market access as U.S. beef and has
consistently called on Seoul to set a date for market opening.
Other experts said that even if Seoul were to lose the dispute settlement, the
entire process could take up to two years to resolve, translating into lost sales
for Canadian beef exporters.
The ministry, in addition, pointed out that Seoul is doing what it can to respond
to complaints raised by Ottawa, including pushing for a revision of the
controversial Prevention of Livestock Epidemic Act that effectively hinders
imports of Canadian beef. The act, passed in the wake of massive protests
following the market's opening to U.S. beef, prohibits imports of meat from
cattle over 30 months old if the country of origin has reported a case of made
cow disease within the last five years.
Agriculture Minister Chang Tae-pyong told reporters recently that he has asked
lawmakers to change the livestock epidemic act because it can be construed as
being a barrier to free trade and counter productive to national interests.
Lawmakers with the National Assembly's agriculture committee, however, have said
they did not believe a change was needed.
Rep. Lee Ke-jin of the ruling Grand National Party said that lawmakers may look
into the matter if the issue leads to a full fledged trade dispute, although
there is no pressing need to do so right now.
Opposition lawmakers like Choi Kyu-sik from the Democratic Party and Rep. Kang
Ki-kab from the progressive Democratic Labor Party have said they cannot agree to
any changes, making clear that any move by the agriculture ministry would be met
with resistance.
Many say that even if the matter goes before a settlement panel, both sides could
call it off if a compromise is reached so there is no need to be overly concerned
or to try to make changes that could spark another backlash.