Asia PacificJapanese company officials accused of evading tariffs on importe...

Asia Pacific
Japanese company officials accused of evading tariffs on imported pork
Seven Japanese company officials were arrested for allegedly evading nearly 11 billion yen (US$96 million; €72 million) in tariffs on imported pork, officials said Wednesday, in a widening tariff evasion scandal.

South Korea says banned bone pieces found in third U.S. beef shipment
South Korea said Wednesday it has found banned bone pieces in a third shipment of U.S. beef and will suspend imports from the U.S. slaughterhouse that processed the meat.

KOREA PRAISES AUSTRALIAN BEEF
Australia’s beef brand in Korea, Hoju Chungjung Woo has been judged as Korea’s leading food brand for the third year in a row. The award was part of the ‘Best Brand Awards’, which are conducted annually by leading Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo.

Australia
Drought Drives Up Beef Production in Australia
Australian beef and veal production during October jumped 21 percent on the same period last year, to 201,826 metric tons, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Beef and veal production during the first 10 months of 2006 stands at 1.82 million metric tons, a four percent increase on the same period in 2005 and a record for the January to October period, Meat and Livestock Australia said.

Americas
Olymel, Big Sky, pull out of Manitoba hog plant, Hytek will go it alone
The last partner left in a consortium behind a controversial pork plant in Winnipeg insists the project will go ahead without the financial backing of the other two companies originally involved.

United States
US Presses Korea on Beef Imports
The United States has lodged a complaint against South Korea’s strict rules on U.S. beef imports, calling for it to accept beef with bone fragments.

Asia Pacific
Japanese company officials accused of evading tariffs on imported pork
Seven Japanese company officials were arrested for allegedly evading nearly 11 billion yen (US$96 million; €72 million) in tariffs on imported pork, officials said Wednesday, in a widening tariff evasion scandal.

South Korea says banned bone pieces found in third U.S. beef shipment
South Korea said Wednesday it has found banned bone pieces in a third shipment of U.S. beef and will suspend imports from the U.S. slaughterhouse that processed the meat.

KOREA PRAISES AUSTRALIAN BEEF
Australia’s beef brand in Korea, Hoju Chungjung Woo has been judged as Korea’s leading food brand for the third year in a row. The award was part of the ‘Best Brand Awards’, which are conducted annually by leading Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo.

Australia
Drought Drives Up Beef Production in Australia
Australian beef and veal production during October jumped 21 percent on the same period last year, to 201,826 metric tons, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Beef and veal production during the first 10 months of 2006 stands at 1.82 million metric tons, a four percent increase on the same period in 2005 and a record for the January to October period, Meat and Livestock Australia said.

Americas
Olymel, Big Sky, pull out of Manitoba hog plant, Hytek will go it alone
The last partner left in a consortium behind a controversial pork plant in Winnipeg insists the project will go ahead without the financial backing of the other two companies originally involved.

United States
US Presses Korea on Beef Imports
The United States has lodged a complaint against South Korea’s strict rules on U.S. beef imports, calling for it to accept beef with bone fragments.