Though not officially part of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Unit...

Though not officially part of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and South Korea, an agreement regarding beef trade may be key to FTA talks moving forward, U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Phil Seng told 26 domestic and international reporters during a media teleconference held Thursday, Mar. 1.

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According to Seng, Koreans have many incentives for moving forward on beef issues.

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Some groups in Korea wouldn’t mind if the FTA fell apart.

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Seng says this beef dispute is opening some eyes.

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Seng expects movement to be made in beef trade with Korea by the end of the month. Prior to the market’s closing due to BSE in 2003, Korea was the third largest market for U.S. beef and beef variety meat, worth almost $816 million.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, lamb, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –