S. Korea to expand tariff quota on powdered milk, pork belly [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/02/28/25/0502000000AEN20110228002500320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea will expand the amount of powdered milk and frozen pork belly subject to no import taxes as part of efforts to ease price hikes sparked by the massive slaughter of livestock amid the spreading foot-and-mouth disease, the finance ministry said Monday.   The measure, finalized during a Cabinet meeting held earlier in the day, will go into effect from early March under the government's quota tariff system, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

A tariff quota is a quantitative threshold on imports, above which a higher tariff is applied. The lower tariff rate applies to imports within the quota, allowing policymakers to adjust duties on specified merchandise to help control inflationary pressure.  Under the latest decision, the government will impose no import duties on 30,000 tons of powdered milk until the end of this year. It earlier sought to apply the tax exemption to 9,000 tons of the product by the end of June.

GNP demands dismissal of farm minister over FMD spread [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/02/28/21/0301000000AEN20110228001700315F.HTML

Summary: The Grand National Party (GNP) has formally asked President Lee Myung-bak to sack his farm minister over one of the worst outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease here, party officials said Monday, as the ruling party struggles to woo voters ahead of the April 27 by-elections.   The demand was delivered to presidential aides in their regular policy coordination meeting with officials at the GNP and the government on Sunday.   "Participants from the GNP requested that the minister for food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Yoo Jeong-bok, take responsibility, as the foot-and-mouth problem has abated somewhat," a senior GNP official told Yonhap News Agency by phone, requesting anonymity.

Fresh bird flu strain confirmed in southern area [English, CSY]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/02/113_82126.html

Full text: About 1,000 ducks found dead earlier this week at a farm in southern South Korea were confirmed Saturday to have been infected with a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza, raising concern that the lethal virus is spreading in the country, officials said.  The H5A1 virus was found on the duck farm in Damyang county of South Jeolla Province, about 350 kilometers south of Seoul, quarantine officials said.  It was the 46th confirmed bird flu outbreak in the country since the first case was reported on Dec. 29. In the past two months, a record 5.5 million birds have been culled.  Quarantine officials at the province said they have been slaughtering about 13,000 ducks at poultry farms in Damyang to try to contain the spread of the virus.   "We are reinforcing quarantine measures to prevent the avian influenza from spreading here," said an official at the South Jeolla provincial government.   The spreading bird disease is a double whammy for South Korea which has been battling what many officials say is the worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. (Yonhap)