It is the first time that Washington has specified its concerns about Korea’s current beef import regulations, calling for a meeting to handle this issue. The primary U.S. concern is that Seoul has applied too strict a set of standards so as to block U.S. beef imports.

The two countries are expected to meet next month on the issue of Seoul’s recent rejection of U.S. beef shipments. Korea banned distribution of the beef shipments since October as bone fragments were found in them.

Last January, when Korea lifted an import ban imposed in 2003, both sides reached an agreement in which the U.S. is supposed to export only boneless beef from cattle aged less than 30 months.

The U.S. Department Agriculture has continued to insist that Korea show tolerance toward ``small’’ bone chips in beef products, arguing that Korean civil servants are trying to find as many reasons as possible to exclude American beef from the market.

"There is no country which allows inclusion of bone fragments - no matter how small - among 14 importers, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, of de-boned beef from the U.S.," said a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Prior to Korea's rejection of the products, Taiwan and Hong Kong also sent back American beef shipments as bone pieces were found in them.

The ministry official said it is difficult to revise the rules just two months after the resumption of imports.

In a statement yesterday, a group of representatives from the ruling and opposition parties said the request from the U.S. could be an intervention in the domestic administration.

"We may propose that the government issue a complete ban on all American beef if the U.S. poses a threat to the health of Koreans," they said.

TheCattleSite News Desk