"South Korea has responded to our request for clarification of their beef trade restrictions. It is a positive step forward that South Korean leaders have agreed to remove silver skin from their list of prohibited items and have agreed that cartilage, breast-bone and bone chips would not be considered specified risk material. However, I am very disappointed that they have been unwilling to establish commercial tolerance levels for bone chips and cartilage. Tolerance levels have been established with many other trading partners.

I will be traveling to Seoul in coming weeks to continue the discussions with South Korea in hopes of resolving the remaining issues. I look forward to the opportunity to encourage South Korea to provide greater clarity regarding the conditions of beef trade between our countries."