SEOUL, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- South Korea Friday halted quarantine inspections of all U.S. beef imports after finding a second shipment containing banned backbones.
The bones were found in an 18.5 ton shipment that arrived in South Korea last month, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said the suspension would remain in effect until the two countries agree on ”a new sanitary and phytosanitary standard” to replace the current contract.
The banned material includes backbones, head bones, brains, spinal cord and certain organs, blacklisted because they pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to humans. South Korea banned U.S. beef outright after a mad cow case was confirmed in the United States in 2003.
Seoul currently allows only boneless U.S. beef from animals under 30 months old to be imported.
