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S. Korea's beef imports decrease 11.7 pct in 2009: report
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's beef imports decreased 11.7 percent on-year in 2009, as local consumers opted to purchase locally raised meat, a government report said Monday.
The report by the farm ministry said that imports of both frozen and chilled meat on a custom-cleared basis reached 197,857 tons last year, down from 224,147 tons in 2008.
The drop marks the first time in five years that beef imports have declined compared to the previous year. Total imports plunged in 2004 after Seoul banned all U.S. beef imports in the wake of the first mad cow case reported in the North American country in late 2003.
"The decrease last year reflects consumer confidence in the country's beef tracking system, country of origin rules enforced in restaurants," an official said.
Market share of locally produced beef including meat from premium "hanwoo" cattle and regular meat cows exceeded 50 percent last year, the highest reached in nine years.
He also said lingering concerns about U.S. beef safety caused overall numbers to go down.
South Korea had lifted its import restrictions on U.S. beef as of June 2008 with imports amounting to 53,293 tons in the six month period, but the total actually fell 6.2 percent to 49,973 tons for the whole of 2009.
The ministry, meanwhile, said Australia remained the largest overseas supplier of beef to South Korea at 116,714 tons, followed by the United States, New Zealand and Mexico.
Imports from New Zealand stood at 30,162 tons, with inbound shipments of Mexican beef reaching 1,007 tons last year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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