Switzerland-WTO looks at Canadian beef ban into South Korea.

SWITZERLAND-WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.

WTO will review Canada beef ban

Korea may not be able to win dispute, which draws on precedent of U.S. ban

By Jung Ha-won

JoongAng Daily - South Korea

April 11, 2009

Canada has formally asked the World Trade Organization to review Korea ’s current import ban on Canadian beef, claiming it violates international trade rules, according to the governments of the two nations.

Jang Tae-pyoung, the Korean agriculture minister, said the government will try to settle the issue within the next two months, implying Seoul may have little chance of winning the looming trade dispute.

"We are disappointed to have to launch this action, as we had hoped to resolve our differences through negotiation," Canada ’s Trade Minister Stockwell Day said in a statement. "It is unfortunate that we have not been able to settle this issue and reopen the South Korean market to Canadian beef."

Korea used to be Canada ’s fourth-largest beef market with exports worth $50 million until Seoul imposed a trade ban in 2003 after an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease, in the Alberta area in May 2003. But the World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE, officially categorized Canada as a "controlled BSE risk" country in May 2007. Since then, Canada has consistently urged Seoul to lift the ban, particularly after it reopened its market to American beef imports in 2008.

The Korean government cited the OIE’s designation of the U.S. as another "controlled BSE risk" country in 2007 as grounds to resume U.S. beef imports, despite fierce opposition from the Korean public.

The Canadian government made no effort to conceal that its patience has dried up, nearly nine months after Seoul reopened its doors to beef from the U.S. Three more outbreaks have been discovered during Canadian food safety authorities’ testing on cattle since the OIE certification, but Ottowa stressed none of them has entered human food or animal feed systems.

"We are now taking the necessary steps to defend Canadian beef producers," said Day. " South Korea represents a key market for them, and we are going the extra mile to get the door open."

An official WTO consultation will be held over the next 30 days, and if both parties fail to resolve the dispute, Canada will be allowed to ask the WTO to form a dispute panel 60 days from now.

But the Korean government may be loath to open its beef market further after massive public protests erupted against the resumption of U.S. beef imports last summer. Jang admitted that the administration is worried.

"In international relations, people look at things only based on science and reason, while factors like consumers’ opinions or public sentiment are not taken into account," he said at a press conference.

"We have not been able to reach a conclusion [on resuming Canadian imports] because of the daunting task of convincing consumers and the public."

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