S. Korea, Canada to continue talks on beef import ban next week

South Korea and Canada will resume negotiations on whether to ease Seoul's regulation on Canadian beef imports next week, the government said Friday.

According to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the talks will be held in Ottawa from Monday to Wednesday, during which the two sides will hold thorough dialogue on the regulation that the South Korean government has been placing on beef imports from Canada since May 2003.

Although the ministry earlier said that it may, at least partly, get rid of the ban, it will do so only after they devise strong and proper safeguard measures.

South Korea banned the import of Canadian beef in May 2003 following an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or so-called mad cow disease, in Canada.

Canada has so far reported 17 cases of the disease with the latest one announced this February.

Canada, on the other hand, has demanded South Korea to reopen its market to Canadian beef after receiving a controlled risk status from the World Organization for Animal Health in 2007.

Although the two countries held two rounds of negotiations on the issue, they failed to narrow differences, which brought Canada before a dispute settlement panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) last year.

While Canada formally requested the organization to take measures to compel South Korea to change its policies, or even take punitive actions when the country does not comply, it has simultaneously strived to continue seeking solutions through dialogue.
(Source:xinhua)