South Korea-Reservations over US beef.

SOUTH KOREA-STILL RESERVATIONS OVER US BEEF.

U.S. meat packers that ship beef to South Korea are conforming to legal safety and sanitation standards, South Korean government inspectors said Monday, according to Yonhap.

Officials from the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS), who conducted on-site inspections of 22 U.S. meat companies from March 29 through early last week, said all facilities were properly removing specified risk materials (SRMs) and had standard sanitation operating procedures and hazard analysis systems in place to ferret out meat that could pose health problems, Yonhap reported.

The 10-person group of three teams said the U.S. meat packers were enforcing rules on downer cattle and were taking steps to differentiate the butchering process for animals over 30 months old.

The inspections are a follow-up to a revised beef trade pact reached last year that eased Seoul’s restrictions on imports of U.S. beef. South Korea allows shipments of U.S. beef from cattle younger than 30-months of age.