Korea suspends Canadian beef imports after BSE case

No other countries yet considering suspensions, CFIA says

By 
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published: December 22, 2021

File photo of Korean braised short ribs. (Sungsu Han/iStock/Getty Images)

Winnipeg | Reuters — South Korea has suspended beef imports from Canada, which last week reported its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in six years, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday.

South Korea, the fourth-largest beef importer in the world, is seeking more information about the case before lifting its suspension, the agency’s spokesman Patrick Girard said.

No other countries have told Canada, the eighth-largest beef exporter, that they are considering trade action, Girard said.

Canada on Thursday confirmed the BSE case in an 8-1/2-year-old beef cow in central Alberta, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said Monday.

Read Also

Larvae of the screwworm fly, collected from infected cows, are observed at the COPEG sterile fly production plant, which fights the spread of the cattle screwworm, in Pacora, Panama, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun/File Photo

Mexico sees 32 per cent jump in flesh-eating screwworm cases since August as cases move north

Mexico recorded 6,703 cases of animals infested with New World screwworm as of September 13 since the start of the outbreak in November of last year. That was compared to 5,086 confirmed cases during the previous period, which ended August 17.

The cow was euthanized on the farm and did not enter the food or animal feed chain, Girard said.

BSE is a fatal disease of the nervous system in cattle. Canada’s latest case is atypical — meaning that it is a form of BSE that can occur naturally in older cattle — as opposed to classical BSE, caused by an animal eating contaminated feed.

The first confirmed Canadian case of BSE — a classical form — was detected in 2003, resulting in some 40 export markets closing. Many have long since reopened.

— Reporting for Reuters by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg.

explore

Stories from our other publications