US beef on full-scale sale in South Korea next month
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
SEOUL, July 17 (AFP): Almost all major South Korean retail chains are set to begin selling US beef next month despite protests by activists, a report said today.
About 20 department stores and discount outlets plan to put US beef on their store shelves on August 9, Yonhap news agency said.
By working together, they hope to deflect attacks by civic groups and cattle farmers, it said.
"There is an agreement to carry out joint promotional campaigns to reduce the backlash associated with selling US beef," an unnamed discount store manager was quoted as saying.
Lotte, the country's largest retail chain, began selling US beef in its 53 discount outlets last Friday.
But activists, who claim the meat carries a risk of mad cow disease, scattered cow dung and scuffled with riot police, forcing Lotte to stop sales in six outlets.
South Korea suspended two US shipments after two packs of beef ribs, which cannot be imported into Korea, were found among a shipment on May 25.
The temporary ban was lifted after the United States promised to honour an earlier accord to ship only boneless meat.
South Korea, once the third-largest market for US beef, last year relaxed a three-year total ban imposed to keep out mad cow disease. At present it accepts only boneless meat.
The beef issue was not officially part of a South Korea-US free trade pact signed on June 30 but key US lawmakers had threatened to kill the deal without a full reopening of the beef market.
Before 2003 South Korea bought 850 million dollars of US beef a year.
About 20 department stores and discount outlets plan to put US beef on their store shelves on August 9, Yonhap news agency said.
By working together, they hope to deflect attacks by civic groups and cattle farmers, it said.
"There is an agreement to carry out joint promotional campaigns to reduce the backlash associated with selling US beef," an unnamed discount store manager was quoted as saying.
Lotte, the country's largest retail chain, began selling US beef in its 53 discount outlets last Friday.
But activists, who claim the meat carries a risk of mad cow disease, scattered cow dung and scuffled with riot police, forcing Lotte to stop sales in six outlets.
South Korea suspended two US shipments after two packs of beef ribs, which cannot be imported into Korea, were found among a shipment on May 25.
The temporary ban was lifted after the United States promised to honour an earlier accord to ship only boneless meat.
South Korea, once the third-largest market for US beef, last year relaxed a three-year total ban imposed to keep out mad cow disease. At present it accepts only boneless meat.
The beef issue was not officially part of a South Korea-US free trade pact signed on June 30 but key US lawmakers had threatened to kill the deal without a full reopening of the beef market.
Before 2003 South Korea bought 850 million dollars of US beef a year.