SEOUL, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- South Korea is likely to resume U.S. beef imports as early as October, a senior Seoul official said Friday.
A group of South Korean officials and experts are scheduled to visit the United States next week to examine meat processing facilities, in a final move to lift its years-long ban on U.S. beef imports.
"After the team returns on Sept. 4, the government will reach a conclusion on the resumption and announce it," Kim Chang-seop, head of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry's animal health division, told a local radio station.
It will take a month from the announcement of the resumption until the beef imports become available to local customers, Kim said.
South Korea agreed in January to allow imports of beef from American cattle younger than 30 months, but the reopening has stalled over measures to ensure meat safety.
South Korea, previously the No. 3 export market for U.S. beef, has banned American beef imports since the end of 2003 after a case of mad cow disease in the country.
The United States had been pressuring Seoul to resume importing its beef as concern grows that it may lose a major importer. South Korea's cattle farmers have protested against the resumption of U.S. beef imports.
