The Republic of Korea has been promised with extra health safeguards from the United States on beef imports, but it is still not clear whether the latest deal will completely eliminate public fear of American beef.
The weeks of mass protests have rocked President Lee Myung-bak's government, the Yonhap news agency quoted local observers as saying on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said an age verification system will ensure that U.S. beef from cattle aged more than 30 months will not be exported to South Korea, and the system will be in place until South Korean concerns over American beef ease.
South Korea has been seeking to maintain the 30-month age limit for over a year to relieve public concerns about safety, while Washington wants to keep the age restriction for 120 days.
South Korea, once the world's third-largest buyer of U.S. beef, banned imports of the American meat in 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was found in the state of Washington.
The two countries reached an agreement on April 18 this year for South Korea's resumption of American beef imports. The April beef deal sparked daily demonstrations in South Korea over the past month that have brought tens of thousands of protesters to the streets and threatened the stability of President Lee Myung-bak's government.
Under the April deal, imports of cattle parts that may carry the disease are banned for sale as food in the United States as they are considered specified risk materials.
The April agreement did not clearly ban those parts from sale here in South Korea, although the South Korean government stressed that those parts are removed at U.S. meat processing plants.
However, "The outcomes of additional beef talks are expected to alleviate street demonstrations," Yonhap quoted Chung In-kyo, economic professor at Inha University as saying.
Source:Xinhua
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