South Korea ended another round of ministerial talks with the United States Tuesday without a breakthrough on resuming imports of U.S. beef, but the two sides agreed to meet again, officials said.
After a two-hour meeting with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab at her office in Washington, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said, "We will meet again tomorrow," without elaborating on the meeting, the third of its kind since Friday.
Kim told reporters just before the talks that "I will try to address the people's concerns (over beef safety)," adding the U.S.side has made "several proposals" and that "We've been engaged in working-level talks to make the proposals effective ones." He would not predict how long the talks with Schwab would last.
Informed sources said the trade ministers were trying to resolve differences over ways to endorse voluntary efforts by the U.S. beef industry to label beef packages with the age of slaughtered cattle to prevent shipments of beef from cattle over 30 months old, which are said to be more susceptible to mad cow disease.
At issue is how to effectively enforce the voluntary export ban by U.S. beef processors. South Korea wants the United States to introduce an export verification program, under which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would inspect beef products and issue export certifications to ensure the safety of beef intended for export.
Washington fears that adopting that kind of policy would not only undermine World Trade Organization regulations advocating free trade, but also have an adverse impact on future negotiations with Japan and other countries. Japan currently imports U.S. beef from cattle less than 20 months old.
A survey of 136 Korea experts in the United States by the South Korean Embassy in Washington said that 54.4 percent of respondents supported South Korea's demand that the United States impose voluntary regulations to ban shipments of beef from cattle older than 30 months. About 33 percent had a negative view of South Korea's protests against imports of American beef from older cattle.
Slightly over 60 percent feared the month-long street rallies and candlelight vigils against U.S. beef imports in Seoul will likely undermine South Korea's relations with the United States.
South Korea's entire cabinet has tendered a collective resignation amid growing concerns over the safety of U.S. beef imports.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article