WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/DS391/8 
7 July 2011 
 (11-3337) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
KOREA – MEASURES AFFECTING THE IMPORTATION OF BOVINE MEAT 
AND MEAT PRODUCTS FROM CANADA 
 
Communication from Canada 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 4 July 2011, from the delegation of Canada to the 
Chairperson of the Dispute Settlement Body, is ci rculated at the request of this delegation. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
On 28 June 2011 Canada requested that the panel in the above-referenced case suspend its 
proceedings in accordance with Article 12.12 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures 
Governing the Settlement of Disputes .  Earlier today the Panel agreed to do so.   
 
Canada would be grateful if the attached communication that was sent from Canada to the 
Republic of Korea on 25 June 2011 in relation to that  suspension could be circulated to the Dispute 
Settlement Body in conjunction with Canada's suspension request.   
A copy of this letter is being sent directly to the Republic of Korea. 
  
_______________ 
 
 WT/DS391/8 
Page 2  
 
  COMMUNICATION FROM CANADA TO THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA 
 
25 June 2011 
 
Re: Korea – Measures Affecting the Importation of Bovine Meat and 
Meat Products from Canada  (DS391) 
 
I am writing to confirm the following understa nding on the issue of access to the Korean 
market for bovine meat from Canada:  
- The Government of Canada and the Governme nt of the Republic of Korea (hereinafter 
referred to as "Korea") have agreed to the dr aft Import Health Requirements for Canadian 
Beef, a copy of which is in Annex A (draft Import Health Requirements). 
 
- Following the publication of the draft Import H ealth Requirements as an administrative notice 
in Korea's official Gazette, the Government of Canada will immediately request that the Panel 
suspend its proceedings in Korea – Measures Affecting the Im portation of Bovine Meat and 
Meat Products from Canada  (DS391) in accordance with Article 12.12 of the WTO 
Understanding on Rules and Procedures Govern ing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU). 
 
- The Government of the Republic of Korea will endeavour to undertake necessary actions in a 
timely manner to restore access to bovine meat  from Canada. The Government of Canada 
expects that all necessary steps are completed in order to allow the importation of bovine 
meat from Canada into Korea and that such importation can take place by 31 December 2011. 
 
- If, at any time during the suspension of th e WTO panel proceedings, the Government of 
Canada considers that this understanding is not respected, the Government of Canada may 
advise the Panel to reinstate the proceedings. If Canada exercises this right, it will notify 
Korea without delay. 
 
- When this understanding has been respected and that access to the Korean market for bovine 
meat from Canada has been effectively re-establis hed, Canada will, prior to the expiration of 
the 12-month suspension period of the WTO pro ceedings, notify the Panel that the Parties 
have settled the matter in dispute and request that it issue a report confined to a brief description of the case and to reporting that  a solution has been reached in Korea  – Measures 
Affecting the Importation of Bovine Meat and Meat Products from Canada (DS391) in 
accordance with Article 12.7 of the DSU. Cana da will then notify the Dispute Settlement 
Body and other relevant bodies of the WTO that a mutually agreed solution has been reached 
in accordance with Article 3.6 of the DSU.  
 
- This understanding is without prejudice to the rights and obligations of Canada and Korea 
under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. Annex A is an 
integral part of this understanding. 
 
I would be grateful if you would confirm th at your Government agrees with the above. 
  WT/DS391/8 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
 
Annex A 
Import Health Requirements for Canadian Beef (Draft) 
These requirements apply to the beef exporte d from Canada to the Republic of Korea 
(hereinafter referred to as "Korea").  
Definitions 
1.  Definitions of the terms used in the import health requirements are as follows: 
(1) "BSE" means Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.  
(2) "Cattle" means domesticated bovine animals (B os taurus and Bos indicus) that were 
born and raised in Canada or legally im ported into Canada from a country deemed 
eligible by the Korean government to export beef to Korea. 
(3) "Specified Risk Materials "(SRMs) means: 
(a) tonsils and distal ileum from cattle of all ages; and  
(b) brains, eyes, spinal cord, skull and vertebral column from cattle 30 months of 
age and over at the time of slaughter.  
(4) "Beef for export" includes all edible parts including bones, which are produced out of 
cattle less than 30 months of age at the tim e of slaughter. However, "beef for export" 
excludes SRMs; brains, eyes, spinal cord, skull and vertebral column (excluding 
vertebrae of the tail, transverse processes of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and 
wings of the sacrum) of cattle less than 30 months of age at the time of slaughter; all 
mechanically recovered meat (MRM)/mechan ically separated meat (MSM); advanced 
meat recovery products (AMR); intest ines from duodenum to rectum; ground meat 
and processed beef products. 
(5) "Food-safety hazard" means any biological, chemical or physical property that may 
cause food to be unfit for human consumption. 
(6) "Serious non-compliance" means a food-safet y hazard in a shipped product or a food-
safety hazard found during a system audit. 
(7) "Public health hazard" in Article 5 means in cidents that pose a threat to health and 
safety of its people, such as any portion of the BSE positive cattle has entered the human food supply chain in Canada.  
General Requirements 
2. Prior to the loading of the beef, it is required that: 
(a) Canada has been free from foot-and-mouth disease for the past 12 months, and has 
been free from rinderpest, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, lumpy skin disease and Rift Valley fever for the past 24 months; and WT/DS391/8 
Page 4  
 
  (b) Vaccination has not been carried out against the aforementioned diseases. 
Notwithstanding the above, in the event that the Korean government acknowledges that the Canadian government is conducti ng an effective stamping-out policy against 
the specific disease, the required period for recognizing Canada as being free of that 
disease might be shortened in accordance with the World Organization for Animal 
Health (OIE) guidelines after Korea conducts a risk analysis. 
3. In the event that a disease set out in Article 2 occurs in Canada, the Canadian government 
must immediately suspend the exportation of beef to Korea and provide the Korean government with 
pertinent information. The Canadian government shall consult with the Korean government in 
advance when it wishes to resume the exportation of beef to Korea. 
4. The Canadian government must continuously maintain measures to effectively detect and 
prevent the introduction and spread of BSE, incl uding removal of SRM, f eed ban and surveillance 
program in accordance with the laws and regulati ons of Canada. The Canadian government must 
inform the Korean government of any introduction, repeal or amendment of BSE-related measures or 
laws and regulations in advance. 
5. In the event that (an) additional case(s) of B SE occur(s) in Canada, the Canadian government 
shall immediately inform the Korean government of the case(s), and provide relevant data and 
information, including relevant epidemiological  information, while the Korean government, upon 
recognition of the additional case(s) of BSE in Canada, will suspend quara ntine inspection on the 
imported beef from Canada, and after receiving in formation from the Canadian government, the 
Korean government will lift the quarantine suspensi on measure without delay when it determines that 
the beef for export does not pose a public health hazard to its people under the Contagious Animal 
Disease Prevention Act of Korea. If the Korean government determines that it does pose a public 
health hazard to its people, it can take measures to suspend the importation of the beef for exportation 
into Korea to protect health and safety of its people. 
Requirements for Meat Establishments 
6. Establishments (slaughterhouses, processing plants  and storage facilities) shall be designated 
by the Canadian government as being eligible fo r producing beef for export to Korea, and such 
establishments shall be notified to the Korean gove rnment in advance, and approved by the Korean 
government through on-site inspections or other means. 
7. The Canadian government shall maintain a regul ar monitoring and auditing program for meat 
establishments that produce beef for export to Korea to ensure they comply with this "Import Health 
Requirements for Canadian Beef" a nd Canadian regulations. In the event of a serious non-compliance 
against the import health require ments has been found as a result of such program, the Canadian 
government shall immediately suspen d the issuance of export certificates for beef of the relevant 
establishment, and inform the Korean government of  reasons and relevant in formation regarding the 
matter. Only when the Canadian government determ ines that the corrective actions are adequate will 
production be allowed to resume. After completi on of the corrective actions by the relevant 
establishment, the Canadian government w ill inform this to the Korean government. 
8. The Korean government can conduct on-site inspec tions and investigate the original records 
on the establishment for export to Korea, and can ta ke measures including suspension of the export of 
the establishment if serious non-compliance with th is "Import Health Requirements for Canadian 
Beef" is found. When the Canadian government info rms the Korean government of the completion of 
the corrective actions for the non-compliance of th e relevant establishment, the Korean government 
confirms whether the corrective actions were taken appropriately through on-site inspection or other 
means. When the Korean government determines that the result of corrective actions is adequate, the  WT/DS391/8 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Korean government can lift the suspension of expo rtation. The Korean government can rescind the 
approval of the establishment concerned if re petitive incidents of serious non-compliance are 
identified. 
9. Establishments that produce beef for export to  Korea shall have in place and operate proper 
sanitation control programs that include the determina tion of age, removal of SRM, identification of 
carcass and offal eligible for export and re moval of ineligible parts for export. 
Requirements for Beef 
10. Cattle to produce beef for export (hereinafter re ferred to as "slaughtered cattle") must  not be 
suspected or confirmed BSE cases, or confirmed progenies or cohorts of BSE cases. 
11. The age of cattle at the time of slaughter must be  verified to be less than 30 months of age by 
the documentation authorized by the Canadian government. However, in the event that the 
identification is not available by the documentation, dentition shall be used to verify the age of cattle. 
12. The beef for export shall be derived from cattle th at were slaughtered in meat establishments 
which are approved by the Korean government a nd that passed ante- and post-mortem inspection 
conducted by CFIA inspector under th e supervision of the resident official veterinarian from the 
Canadian government. 
13. The beef for export shall be derived from cattle that were not subjected to a stunning process 
prior to slaughter, with a device injecting compressed air or gas into the crania l cavity or to a pithing 
process. 
14. The beef for export shall be produced and handl ed in a manner which ensures that it does not 
contain and is not contaminated with SRM, mech anically recovered meat/mechanically separated 
meat (MRM/MSM), and advanced meat recovery product (AMR). 
15. The beef for export must not contain residues posing a public health hazard (radioactivity, 
synthetic antibiotic substances, an tibiotic substances, heavy metals, pesticides, hormones, etc.) and 
pathogenic microorganisms in quantities exceeding th e tolerance levels established by the Korean 
government and when the beef for export is treated  with ionizing radiation, ultraviolet rays and 
tenderizer, it shall follow the Korean regulation. 
16. The beef for export must be packaged  with clean and sanitary material. 
17. Production, storage and transportation of the beef for export must be handled in such a 
manner as to prevent contamination by communicable animal disease pathogens. 
18. Refrigerator or cold storage rooms on a vessel (air craft) or container that transports the beef 
must be sealed by using the seal of the Canadi an government or the Canadian government-authorized 
seal. An official veterinarian of the Canadian government must verify this and issue a health 
certificate. 
19. The Canadian government shall issue the export health certificate that contains the following 
information in detail and submit it to the quarantine authority of the Korean government: 
(1) Information required in th e Article 2 and 9-18 above; 
(2) Name of the product (including species), number of packages, and weight (N/W) 
listed by each final processing plant; WT/DS391/8 
Page 6  
 
  (3) Names, addresses and approval numbers of the slaughterhouse, processing plant and 
storage facility; 
(4) Slaughtering period and/or processing period; 
(5) Container number and seal number; 
(6) Name of the vessel (aircraft), date of shipment, name of shipping port; 
(7) Addresses and names of the consignor and the consignee; 
(8) Date of issue of the health certificate, name and signature of the issuer and the 
organization to which he/she belongs.  
20. In the event that non-compliance with these im port health requirements is found during the 
quarantine inspection of beef for export conduct ed by the Korean government, the Korean 
government can take the following measures: 
(1) The Korean government may return the beef for export to its origin or destroy it if 
any discrepancy against the health requirements of Korea is found.  
(2) In the case that any SRM is found or any r esidue designated by Korean government is 
detected during quarantine inspection, the Korean government can take a measure to 
suspend the exportation from the relevant est ablishment, and in that case the Korean 
government can lift the export restriction th rough on-site inspections or other means 
after it is informed by the Canadian govern ment that the corrective actions for the 
establishment are completed. 
(3) In the case of serious non-compliance with import health requirements, the Korean 
government will conduct at least 5 consecutive inspections (on the quantity totaling at 
least 5 times of the quantity of non-complia nce) for the beef for export produced in 
the same establishment. If no additiona l non-compliance is detected after the 
increased inspection, the Korean governme nt will return to its normal track; 
(4) If the two cases of serious non-compliance ar e found in the beef for export produced 
in the same establishment, the Korean government can suspend the exportation from 
the relevant establishment until the corrective actions are completed. In this case, the 
Korean government can lift the suspension th rough on-site inspections or other means 
after it is informed by the Canadian gove rnment that the corrective actions are 
completed; and 
(5) In the event of the suspension of the e xportation against an establishment, products 
certified prior to the date of suspension will continue to be eligible for import 
quarantine inspection. 
21. A system-wide failure, such as repetitive incide nts of serious non-compliance, may result in 
the suspension of the import health requirements. 
Addendum 
 
1.  This notice will go into effect on the date of its notification. 
 
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