P.M. BRIEFING : Seoul OKs More Beef Imports
After angry complaints from the United States, Australia and New Zealand, South Korea agreed at GATT meetings today to begin importing increasing amounts of foreign beef annually.
A dispute panel set up by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ruled two years ago that Seoul’s ban on imported beef violated free trade rules.
Australia, New Zealand and the United States--the beef-exporting nations most affected--told the GATT Council that after months of delaying, South Korea agreed in private consultations to lift the ban.
It agreed to import 58,000 metric tons from all sources this year, 62,000 tons in 1991 and 66,000 tons in 1992. South Korea also committed itself to negotiating subsequent annual quotas, GATT spokesman David Woods said.
There were no individual quotas within the total for the three nations that brought the complaint.
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