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food safety | SPS

food safety | sanitary and phytosanitary standards

Mad cows, mad people
11-Jul-2008 FPIF
Through the prism of beef, Koreans confront the limitations of key contemporary institutions: democracy, capitalism, and nationalism.
Threat to plans for trade pact
11-Jul-2008 Stuff
Indonesia’s ban on New Zealand beef could threaten plans to sign a lucrative free-trade pact with South-east Asian nations this year, industry officials say.
Mass movement halts the neo-liberal bulldozer
11-Jul-2008 Newscham.net
No one is sure how successful the movement will be in stopping the importation of American beef into Korea but it has certainly fractured the seemingly monolithic aura of President Lee and his neo-liberal bulldozer and will perhaps spark a new generation of class struggle in South Korea.
Hyundai workers strike over US beef
10-Jul-2008 Business Week
Workers at Hyundai Motor Co. staged a partial strike Thursday over stalled annual wage negotiations with management and the resumption of US beef imports.
Vaste mobilisation sud-coréenne
8-Jul-2008 L’Humanité
Le lien entre « la crise du boeuf » et les accords de libre-échange est évident. « À travers l’un, nous luttons contre l’autre, explique-t-on. Même si c’est un lien que ne font pas tous ceux qui descendent dans la rue aujourd’hui. Notre mouvement exige la rectification des accords conclus en avril de l’an dernier. Ceux-ci concernent durablement la vie de tous les citoyens, les paysans en premier lieu. »
SKorean activists prepare ’million-strong’ US beef rallies
5-Jul-2008 AFP
South Korean activists Saturday promised to draw one million protesters nationwide in the biggest anti-US beef rallies so far
US beef recalled on E. coli concerns
3-Jul-2008 Chosun Ilbo
Some 240 tons of beef products from an approved US exporter to Korea suspected of being contaminated with the O-157 strain of E. coli have been recalled, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Wednesday.
S.Korea activists launch US beef boycott
3-Jul-2008 AFP
South Korean activists on Thursday launched a nationwide campaign to boycott US beef as President Lee Myung-Bak issued a fresh warning against violent protests.
Food safety - rigging the game
2-Jul-2008 GRAIN
In the food safety arena, both the US and the EU are pressing their standards on other countries through bilateral free trade agreements.
More than 100 injured in SKorea beef protests
29-Jun-2008 AFP
South Korean police clashed violently with protesters opposing US beef imports in Seoul, leaving more than 100 people injured
Opposition parties launch campaigns to nullify beef announcement
27-Jun-2008 Hankyoreh
South Korea’s opposition parties declared the official announcement to resume imports of US beef null and void and launched a series of campaigns to have it withdrawn. Opposition party members have also proposed plans to hold a national referendum on the beef agreement and plan to seek other forms of legal action against it.
New protests as South Korea checks US beef for import
27-Jun-2008 Reuters
Militant protesters blocked trucks from leaving warehouses for a second day on Friday as South Korea resumed quarantine checks on US beef imports, moving to bring the product to market for the first time in nine months.
’Loophole’ revealed in US ban on downer cattle
26-Jun-2008 OhMyNews
On June 25, the Humane Society released a new investigative report showing extremely sick dairy cows being dragged and shocked in order to move them into an auction ring in the United States
Gov’t announces publication of sanitary conditions for US beef
26-Jun-2008 Hankyoreh
Protests erupt across South Korea with 100 arrests made, potential for clashes at cold storage warehouses increases
S Korea set to resume US beef imports, more protests called
25-Jun-2008 Economic Times
South Korea will resume US beef imports from Thursday after securing extra safeguards, officials said, prompting calls for fresh anti-mad cow rallies which have brought thousands on to the streets.
US senators say additional beef talks violate April deal
24-Jun-2008 Chosun Ilbo
US Senator Max Baucus says there’s no scientific proof for Korea’s claim that beef from older cattle pose a health risk. Other senators echoed his words adding that the latest moves could bring difficulties to passing the bilateral free trade deal.
Trade minister recounts beef talks with US
23-Jun-2008 Chosun Ilbo
"Whenever the negotiations went against us or whenever the US side cited ’science’ (to emphasize that US beef is scientifically safe), we pointed to the photo [of the June 10 candlelight vigil in downtown Seoul, with the largest number of protesters] and said, ’Look at this. Do you think this can be explained with science?’ "
New beef agreement still leaves room for mad cow fears
23-Jun-2008 Hankyoreh
While the Korean government claims it has made a “better-than-expected achievement” through additional negotiations between South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab over import terms for US beef, it hasn’t been enough to defuse public fears over the safety of the American meat.
Seoul to implement new US beef import conditions this week: officials
23-Jun-2008 Yonhap
The South Korean government will put new U.S. beef import terms into effect as early as this week, officials said on Monday, signaling a full resumption of imports, which have been suspended for nearly five years.
Strikes, protests besiege South Korean regime
21-Jun-2008 Workers World
South Korea has been seeing nightly mass demonstrations for over a month, a candlelight march of 1 million people on June 10 and a strike wave of key industrial unions. All are connected to a trade agreement between Washington and the current government of President Lee Myung-bak that would allow US beef into the country.