Monday, February 16, 2015

South Korea bans Canadian beef

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said that the new case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopaty (BSE, or mad cow’s disease) found in Alberta should not stop exports, but it has.

South Korea suspended quarantine inspections of Canadian beef, the agriculture ministry said Sunday.

On Friday the Canadian Food Inspection Agency posted news of the BSE case, long after Feb. 4 when a sample was taken and sent to a lab.

The CFIA says no part of the animal's carcass entered the human food or animal feed systems.

The CFIA also says South Korea is out of line because Canada is recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as a "controlled BSE risk" country.

The Canadian beef industry lobbied Ottawa long and hard to restore regain access to the South Korean market, and that approval finally came through last year.


That lifted a ban that went into effect when the first BSE case, also in Alberta, was confirmed in May, 2003.