Today's Date:      Thursday, April 26, 2012

1. LIVESTOCK ISSUES

Gov`t moves to ease consumer fears over US beef [English, CSY]

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2012042697858

Summary: Korea will beef up quarantine checks on American beef imports following the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S. in six years. Certain discount store chains and department stores in Korea have also stopped selling the meat over consumer fears.   The U.S. Agriculture Department announced Tuesday that it had discovered a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, or more commonly known as mad cow disease, in a milk cow at a California farm. The department said what caused the disease was believed to be a mutation, not animal feed.  Washington, however, did not elaborate on when the epidemic was discovered and where the infected cow was raised.  In Korea, the Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry pledged to strengthen quarantine examinations of U.S. beef imports and requested detailed information from the U.S.

Home Plus and Lotte Mart, two of Korea’s major discount store chains, said Wednesday that they had stopped the sale of U.S. beef. Lotte Department Store did the same the same day.   The three companies said that the suspension will last “for the time being” as the situation involved a food item that consumers are sensitive about.   E-Mart, the country’s leading discount store chain, plans to decide whether to stop selling U.S. beef after watching the Korean government’s response. Hyundai and Shinsegae Department Stores said they do not sell U.S. beef.

Korea halts sale of US beef after latest outbreak of mad cow [English, CSY]

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=020000&biid=2012042699098

Full text: Fears over the quality of American beef has reemerged in Korea in the wake of the latest case of mad cow disease in the U.S., prompting retailers and butcher shops to stop selling the meat.   The livestock market in Seoul`s Majang-dong neighborhood, which is full of imported beef wholesalers and outlets, was quiet Wednesday. One merchant said with a sigh, “We got calls canceling the purchase of U.S. beef from early this morning.”   A 52-year-old man who mostly sells imported beef at the market said, “My business went bust in 2008 when protests against American beef were in full swing. After my failure, I started the business again and now I see this.”   Another retailer, 51, said, “This will reinforce the negative perception on U.S. beef.”

The same comment was echoed at butcher shops in Seoul. A 30-year American beef retailer in Seoul`s Seocho district said, “What I sell is safe because it is out of quarantine. As fears over mad cow disease grow, I don’t think I can sell it. No customers.”   Koreans also expressed worry. Workers who went out to eat “galbitang (Korean beef soup)” for lunch checked the origin of the beef. Some ordered beef imported from New Zealand or Australia instead of the U.S.

Newest mad cow case likely to stifle opening of beef market [English, CSY]

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2012042697868

Summary: The first case of mad cow disease in the U.S. makes Korea seem unlikely to open its beef market completely for the time being in six years, a demand that the U.S. has made for a long time.   Washington has asked Seoul to open the Korean beef market since 2008, when the import of U.S. beef from cows under 30 months old was allowed. The U.S. Trade Representative said in a report to Congress on April 2, “We will request Seoul to start negotiations over the complete application of the sanitary conditions for U.S. beef import soon.”   With the latest case of mad cow disease, however, Washington will have little room for further pressure on Seoul for the time being. The Korean Trade Ministry said, “We`ve had no negotiations with Washington on U.S. beef imports from cows older than 30 months. We will make public health and safety our top priority and will take care of this carefully.”

2. MARKETING ISSUES

Costco Criticizes Retailer Restrictions[English, MGF]

http:www.koreaherald.co.kr/business/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=201204 23000701

Summary: The giant warehouse Costco Korea chief has criticized the country's new regulation forcing large retailers to close one or two days a month or to cut operating hours, contending that the measure will not help small merchants. "This will hurt the very people they are trying to help,” Costco country manager Preston Draper told The Korea Herald last week. "We disagree with (the new regulation) because we fundamentally supply products to the small merchants; they are the majority of our clients,” he said. The government took the measure in response to complaints by mom-and-pop merchants who have seen dwindling sales amid the nation's three giant retailers' E-Mart, Homeplus and Lotte Mart ÔÇò expansion of operating hours with some branches open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.