SOUTH KOREA-THE BSE DEBACLE CAUSED BY THE MEDIA.
South Korea says it will respond aggressively to a Canadian move to take a bilateral dispute over beef to the World Trade Organization.
Canada wants the Geneva-based WTO to address a more than five-year-old South Korean ban on its beef over fears of mad cow disease. Trade Minister Stockwell Day says Canada wants the WTO to start consultations over a "continuing unjustified ban" on its beef.
Ottawa says WTO consultations provide an opportunity for parties to resolve disputes through discussions, and if the consultations fail, the complaining party can ask that the issue be referred to a WTO dispute settlement panel.
South Korea banned Canadian beef in May 2003 over fears of mad cow disease, but Canada argues the World Organization for Animal Health recognized Canada as a "controlled risk" country in 2007 for beef - the same status as the United States. U.S. beef was banned from South Korea over mad cow disease worries in December 2003, though restricted imports are now allowed.
Eating meat products contaminated with mad cow disease is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal human malady.