WINNIPEG — South Korea is on its way to lifting an eight-year ban on Canadian beef from cows younger than 30 months, Reuters reports.
“After almost a decade, Canadian beef producers are on track to gain access to the lucrative South Korean market, making our industry and entire economy stronger,” Gerry Ritz, Canada’s agriculture minister, is quoted as saying by Reuters.
The South Korean government banned Canadian beef following the mad-cow disease outbreak in 2003, and in August 2009 Canada formally asked the World Trade Organization to address the issue.
Meanwhile, the slaughter of a significant portion of the Asian country’s domestic livestock, following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease this year, resulted in a higher demand for beef products.
Canadian beef comprised four per cent of the South Korean market prior to the ban. According to reports, the new deal could inject more than $30 million into the Canadian cattle industry by 2015.
