Canada calls for setup of WTO panel on S. Korea's beef ban

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SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- Canada has called on the World Trade Organization
(WTO) to set up a dispute settlement panel to deal with South Korea's ban on its
beef, the government here said Friday.

Seoul has banned Canadian beef imports since May 2003 after the country reported
its first case of mad cow disease, the brain wasting illness suspected of causing
the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Ottawa formally
requested the establishment of the panel on Thursday. The panel would be able to
take action that can compel a country to change its policies or authorize
punitive measures in the case of non-compliance.
"Seoul objects to taking the matter to a dispute settlement panel and plans to
make known its stance at the Dispute Settlement Board that will convene on June
20 to review the request," said a ministry official.
He stressed that South Korea maintains trade policies in import rules that
reflect guidelines established by the WTO.
South Korea and Canada have been engaged in bilateral talks for several years to
resolve the beef issue but have made little headway.
Ottawa, which received a "controlled risk" classification from the Paris-based
World Organization for Animal Health, has been pushing Seoul to open the South
Korean market to its beef without restrictions.
South Korea countered that because Canada has reported 16 cases of mad cow
disease so far, it could open its market but that there is a need to limit
imports to protect public health.
Before the ban went into effect, Canada was the fourth-largest supplier of beef
to South Korea after the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It shipped
16,400 tons of beef to South Korea worth US$37.4 million.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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