. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/130
21 July 1999
(99-3005)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English/
Spanish
RESTRICTIONS ON THE EXPORTATION OF FRESH BOVINE
MEAT TO THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Statement by Argentina at the meeting of 7-8 July 1999
I. BACKGROUND
1. On several occasions, Argentina's Government has requested Korea to review its national
legislation in order to allow the entrance of fresh  bovine meat.  Regardless of the ongoing flow of
information related to Argentina's sanitary status to export the mentioned product, the Koreanauthorities have so far denied access to their national market, although Korean authorities visited our
country to verify our current sanitary status in 1996, with satisfactory observations.  At this time, our
country complies with sanitary conditions that allow the exportation of bovine meat to countries free
of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) without vaccination.
2. For decades, Argentina has been interested in accessing the Korean market.  Thus, in 1996,
our country sent a 400 pages Report, based on a Questionnaire issued by the Animal Health Division
of South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries during the visit of the technical delegation in
1996.
3. On 30 April 1999, Argentina formally notified the OIE of the cessation of vaccination against
FMD throughout the country.  On 20 May 1999, the Argentine representative officially presented this
notification before the 67
th OIE General Session, and set forth the report on "Operational Systems of
Strategic Implementation", stating the sanitary actions to reduce the risk of re-entrance of the virusinto the country.  On 29 January 1999, the declaration of Argentina describing the accomplishments
of the eradication of FMD and announcing the cessation of vaccination was published as document
G/SPS/GEN/109 in the WTO.
4. Argentina has reached the status of free of FMD with vaccination, has registered no cases
since April 1994, has ceased vaccination against said disease on 30 April 1999, and has access tomore than 70 international markets, including countri es with high sanitary requirements such as the
United States, Canada, Chile, etc. which are free of FMD without vaccination.
II. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
5. In accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 5 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures (the "SPS Agreement"), Argentina wishes to inform the Committee andask Korea the following questions:
(a) What is the Korean legislation establishing the specific requirements for the
importation of fresh bovine meat from Argentina?G/SPS/GEN/130
Page 2
(b) Could Korea state the scientific grounds for banning the importation of fresh bovine
meat from our country?
(c) It appears that Korea has decided not to base its import requirements on OIE
recommendations.  Could Korea indicate the scientific grounds upon which this
apparent ban is based?
(d) Could Korea set forth complete information regarding risk analysis carried out
according to Article 5, and state the grounds for the measures taken in accordance
with the risk analysis?
III. CONCLUSIONS
6. In accordance with the above-mentioned observations, Argentina understands that regulations
for the importation of animals, products and sub-products of animal origin that ban the entrance of
meat from Argentina, result in a discriminatory attitude and are inconsistent with the SPS Agreement.
7. At this moment, Argentina's sanitary condition exceeds the guarantees established in
Article 2.1.1.2 of the International Zoosanitary Code, due to scientific probability estimations of the
presence of carrier animals, as well as the current epidemiological and prevention surveillance
strategies of the country.
8. The prohibition to import fresh and matured bovine meat from Argentina, a country free of
FMD with vaccination and which has stopped vaccination since 30 April 1999, does not appear to be
in accordance with Articles 2.2, 2.3, 4.2, 5, 7 and 12.4 of the SPS Agreement.  Argentina informs the
Committee of the request made to Korea to obtain th is information, according to the provisions stated
in paragraph 8 of Article 5 of the SPS Agreement.
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