South Korea on Friday imposed a partial ban over beef imported from New Zealand after local quarantine officials detected residual insecticide exceeding the permissible level, reported South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

A recent test showed the beef processed at a New Zealand meat- processing plant named ME-47 contained 0.5 parts per million (ppm) of endosulfan, higher than South Korea's permissible level of 0.1 ppm, Yonhap quoted the South Korean National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service as saying.

Endosulfan is a chlorine-based insecticide commonly used to control crop insects and mites. If consumed in large quantities, it can cause vomiting, diarrhea and convulsions.

The South Korean quarantine authorities planed to order local retailers to recall all the beef shipped from the processing plant in question, said Yonhap.

According to government data 1,622 tons of beef were imported from ME-47 this year.

However, the ban does not affect beef produced by 32 other meat- processing facilities in New Zealand that ship beef to South Korea.

New Zealand is the No. 2 beef exporter to South Korea after Australia. South Korea imported 146,636 tons of beef this year, of which 44,317 tons came from New Zealand.

As responses, the New Zealand Embassy in Seoul issued a statement earlier the day, saying the amount of endosulfan detected was minute and not harmful to humans.

The New Zealand Food and Safety Authority is working closely with the South Korean authorities to determine the cause in order to prevent the recurrence of residual pesticide detection in New Zealand beef, the embassy said.

Source: Xinhua