U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – 303-350-0032


Sen. Salazar Presses Korea to Lift Ban on U.S. Beef

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Ken Salazar met with the Korean Ambassador Lee to discuss the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and raise an issue vital to America’s ranchers – Korea’s ban on U.S. beef imports.

“Today, I reiterated my concerns to Ambassador Lee about Korea's continued ban on U.S. beef and its affect on consideration of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in the U.S. Senate,” said Senator Salazar. “I will not support moving forward on the Free Trade Agreement until Korea’s ban on U.S. beef is completely lifted. Although I am encouraged that the Korean government is making progress in resolving this issue, I emphasized to the Ambassador the need for a mechanism to ensure that Korea cannot simply reinstate their ban in the event that the FTA is enacted. This issue is too important to ranchers in Colorado to play games.”

During their meeting, Senator Salazar secured from Ambassador Lee a commitment to Korea resolving the beef impasse between the United States and Korea by the end of September, 2007.

The Korea-U.S. FTA will make a number of agricultural products immediately duty free, including wheat, corn, cotton and skins and hides. Korea is currently the fifth-largest export market in the world for U.S. agricultural products.

A high-resolution photo of the meeting between Senator Salazar and Ambassador Lee is available by clicking here.

A brief timeline of Korea’s U.S. Beef Ban:

In December 2003, Korea imposed a ban on the importation of U.S. beef following the discovery of a case of BSE in cattle that originated in Canada. Prior to the ban, Korea was the third largest market for U.S. beef in the world. In September 2006, Korea partially reopened its market to U.S. beef, allowing imports of boneless beef from cattle less than 30 months old.

In May 2007, the International Organization for Animal Health (OIE) announced it had granted U.S. beef “controlled risk” status for BSE, which means that international scientific guidelines confirm the safety of U.S. beef products from cattle of all ages, including boneless, bone-in, and offals.

In the wake of the decision, the Korean government announced that it will begin a multi-phase process for certifying the safety of U.S. beef. It is currently mid-way through that process, and expects to complete the process and completely lift the beef ban by September.

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