South Korea stops U.S. meat shipment with bone flecks

South Korea stops U.S. meat shipment with bone flecks They're probably barely visible to human eye, but some 1 millimeter bone flecks were enough for South Korean agricultural inspectors to stop another shipment of U.S. beef.
   In this case, the bone flecks were found in three boxes of chuck short rib. This is the third shipment stopped by South Korea since the country recently reopened its borders to U.S. beef products.
   South Korea, like many countries, banned U.S. beef after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or 'mad cow' disease, in a Washington state cow in December 2003. Since then the USDA has worked hard to reestablish the U.S. beef trade with many Asian countries.
   'The rejection of the third shipment clearly illustrates that South Korean officials are determined to find an excuse to reject all beef products from the United States,' said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in a statement Tuesday.
   'I find it difficult to accept that bone fragments the size of one half a grain of rice were found through visual inspection of 10 metric tons of beef, as is South Korea's claim regarding the third shipment, despite the fact that it went through unusually rigorous inspection by the U.S. exporter before it was shipped,' Johanns added.
   The U.S. Meat Export Federation also expressed disappointment with South Korea's latest action.
   'We know from our interaction with members of the Korean meat trade that consumers are eagerly awaiting the return of U.S. beef to the market,' said Philip M. Seng, the federation's president and chief executive officer. 'We urge the South Korean and U.S. governments to resume talks as quickly as possible to effect an agreement that will be trade progressive and consistent with international standards.'