South Korea To Begin Accepting US Zilmax® (Zilpaterol) Enhanced Beef By June 2014?

The jury is still out on whether extreme localized summer heatwaves -- coinciding with some ranchers' allegedly over-dosing their cattle on zilpaterol (branded as Zilmax^® by Merck) was the leading causual culprit in the unusual clustering -- of beef-cattle deaths -- at processing intake facilities, last summer here in the US and Canada. In fact, it is not yet clear that the deaths weren't primarily heat- and transportation conditions- related. [The atrociously-inhumane way our beef cattle is handled -- at the end of the delivery cycle, especially -- in industrial meat processing intakes -- could well turn out to be the main problem here. We shall see.]

Even as a blue ribbon panel looks into the matter, and prepares to set standards for a potential reintroduction here, South Korea has moved forward with its plan (originally announced in October 2013) to reintroduce imported beef with minimal levels of zilpaterol, setting specific guidelines for what "minimal" means in this context. If nothing else, the Koreans could pick up some beef on the cheap (since cattle fed any meaningful amount of the additive are essentially unmarketable world-wide, at the moment) -- to the extent that there is still some beef "on the hoof" (still in the field) that were fed the additive in mid-2013. Here is Reuters on it (do go read it all) -- and a bit:

. . . .South Korea will allow certain levels of animal feed additive zilpaterol in beef from June, a government official said on Tuesday, opening the door to imports of some meat containing the growth enhancer and its domestic sale.

Seoul had said in October that restrictions would be eased sometime in 2014, ending a zero tolerance policy on zilpaterol-based drugs such as Merck & Co's Zilmax.

The feed additive has been under global scrutiny since a video emerged in the United States in August showing animals struggling to walk and with other signs of distress after taking a growth drug. . . .

To be sure, an open South Korea will not be material to overall Merck, or even to overall Zilmax revenues, compared to 2012 levels. More background on all of this is available here. [And. . . just an unrelated heads-up: HHS Secretary Sebelius will be hosting a Google Hang-Out on "ACA of 2010 Next Steps" -- here on our site, live at @2 PM EDT.] Have an excellent April Fools' Day!