The dispute started in May 2003, when South Korea banned the import of Canadian beef and beef products, following Canada’s first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). After several failed attempts to reach an agreement to resume trade, Canada appealed the case to a WTO panel in August 2009. In June 2011, South Korea started the process to restore Canada’s access to beef markets, which was confirmed in January.
Patrick Girard, of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada told GlobalMeatNews:“During the suspension period of the WTO case, Canada closely monitored the situation to ensure that commercially viable and sustainable access had been restored.
“On 18 June, as per the June 2011 arrangement, Canada initiated the necessary steps to formally terminate its WTO case against South Korea after determining that access to the South Korean market had been effectively re-established."
The mutually agreed solution confirms a motion in January, in which Korea agreed to resume Canadian imports of under 30 months (UTM) cattle, having completed a domestic approval process and gained legislative approval to remove the ban.
