(2/26/2001) Germany May Send "Mad Cow" Suspect Beef To N Korea

Ê (2/26/2001) Germany May Send "Mad Cow" Suspect Beef To N Korea

Germany May Send "Mad Cow" Suspect Beef To N Korea

by Yojana Sharma

(IPS) BERLIN -- North Korea's request for German beef as food aid for its famine-stricken regions has raised ethical questions on whether meat from herds suspected of contamination with mad cow disease should be sent to poor countries in dire need, regardless of the risks.

Officials from North Korea and Germany's Agriculture and Consumer Protection ministry met in Berlin last week to discuss a proposal to send some 200,000 head of German cattle to the famine stricken country.

This is almost half of the 400,000 cattle to be slaughtered in Germany in the coming weeks under the European Union's "purchase for destruction" program to support market prices for beef in the wake of plummeting consumer confidence after the emergence of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephelopathy) or mad cow disease.

"I see an ethical problem if the food isn't safe and Germany were effectively exporting BSE to the country," says Mary Lucas of the Catholic relief agency (CAFOD), which administers a large aid program in North Korea.

CAFOD and other agencies on the ground, which help distribute food aid, would have a problem handling the distribution of such aid, she says.

"There would be a problem if there is any doubt about safety at all. There should be no question of dumping food which people do not want to eat here (in Europe) onto the Third World. We should be thinking of better ways of helping the people," she says.

However, the German government notes that many of the cattle to be slaughtered in the country are healthy, although they may come from herds where cases of BSE have been detected.

The Agriculture Ministry insists all cattle will be tested before export, unlike those destined for slaughter in Europe where it is enough to merely come from a herd where BSE has been detected in order to be condemned for the slaughterhouse without further testing.

"We can rely on our government when they say they will test it, they will do it," says Dr Rupert Neudeck of the doctors' charity Cap Anamur.

The Cologne-based German charity, which has been active in North Korean hospital and schools, acted as an intermediary between Pyongyang and Berlin when North Korea first made a request for German beef earlier this month. North Korea has no diplomatic relations with Germany.

Neudeck says in return for the beef aid, the German government would ask for freer movement for humanitarian workers in North Korea, whose movements are generally restricted by the North Korean government, making it difficult to carry out their life-saving work.

Neudeck says the situation "was a bit hysterical" in Germany at present. The country was slaughtering so many cattle to calm the hysteria and because "we can afford to do so. We are a luxury society."

"A far bigger ethical question for mankind is that we are slaughtering cows in the millions only to keep up the market (price of beef) while others are starving," Neudeck told IPS.

S Korea fears meat entering the black market

Switzerland also is contemplating sending some $4 million worth of beef to North Korea. A recent editorial in the Seoul-based Korea Herald newspaper commented: "Switzerland has removed beef from school meals since the latest cases of infection were detected among its cattle. To export the meat that is deemed unsuitable for local consumption is hard to justify, even for the humanitarian purpose of the relief of starving people."

In South Korea, parliamentarians from both ruling and opposition parties have urged the South Korean government to intervene to prevent Germany and Switzerland from sending surplus beef to North Korea because of concerns about mad cow disease.

Some fear that meat from Europe may not go to North Korea's starving, but may find its way to South Korea via corrupt North Korean officials and could spread BSE there. "The tests for cattle to detect BSE are far from perfect at present," says a South Korean diplomat in Berlin, referring to his country's ban. He says there will be no way to guarantee the perfect safety of meat shipped to North Korea.

Consumption of beef in South Korea has already dropped after reports of imports of animal-based feed for cattle and the import of EU beef has been banned because of the risk of infection.

However, few deny that North Korea is in desperate need of food. "People are so desperate," notes Lucas, adding that even if the beef aid went ahead, "I don't think it would make very much difference given the scale of the famine. It is just a sign of desperation of the North Korean government that they should even consider asking for the cattle."

While the World Food Program (WFP) has launched one of the largest relief programs, sending grain and other foodstuffs to North Korea, the situation is still critical.

"Malnourishment, particularly among young children, is a real problem. There is a need for protein foods," says Neudeck.

Neudeck believes the German beef could be distributed through existing food aid networks, but other relief agencies are skeptical that Pyongyang has the logistics to deal with the beef shipments.

"The logistics make it a non-starter," says Lucas. "There is a lack of power, electricity is erratic, people are struggling to heat their houses, the schools and other institutions, the government is unlikely to be able to run freezers to store the meat. I would say it is not a good idea unless the meat is canned."

"The problem is that at the moment there is very little food. Food there is not balanced nutritionally, beef in cans would be welcome," she says.

Slaughtering and canning the meat in Germany would raise the cost to the German government, but is already an option being studied by Berlin in response to concerns raised by relief organizations.

A spokesperson for the German agriculture ministry says there also are concerns over the impact on trade in the region. Neudeck points out that since beef production is almost non-existent as a result of the famine, the situation is quite unusual in North Korea.

"We could never send beef as aid to Africa -- it would destroy the livelihood of the farmers there," he says.

However, CAFOD is more cautious that farmers in North Korea are "already under great stress."

"Aid should be given to farmers to develop agriculture so that they can feed their families," says Lucas.

Comments? Send a letter to the editor.

Albion Monitor February 26, 2001 (http://www.monitor.net/monitor)

Contact rights@monitor.net for permission to use in any format.