S.Korea to start talks with US on beef imports

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea will start talks with the
United States soon on resuming U.S. beef imports, which have
been banned for two years due to mad cow concerns, Seoul’s
agriculture ministry said on Monday.

South Korea, once the world’s third-largest import market
for U.S. beef, banned imports in December 2003 following the
first U.S. case of the deadly mad cow disease, formally known
as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

“The ministry will start preliminary talks with the United
States soon on details about opening the beef market,” the
ministry said in a statement.