WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts late yesterday joined a bipartisan group of Senators in sending a letter to U.S. trade officials urging them to suspend all negotiations on free trade agreements with South Korea unless they open their markets to U.S. beef and both countries agree on reasonable and fair bone tolerance levels for future shipments.

At issue is Korea’s recent rejection of the first three shipments of beef from the United States, including one from a Kansas company. The trade agreement falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee, which Roberts will join in January, enabling him to play a pivotal role in future trade negotiations with South Korea.

The letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab was signed by Senator Pat Roberts and Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Pat Leahy (D-VT), Craig Thomas (R-WY), Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Jim Talent (R-MO).

The following is the text of the letter:

"For the past three years the United States has patiently worked with our trading partners to resolve disruptions in trade flows of American beef exports. The slow opening of markets under commercially unfavorable circumstances was tolerated under the expectations that meaningful amounts of product would begin to move and government officials could resolve remaining sanitary and phytosanitary issues on the basis of internationally accepted scientific guidelines.

"The result of our efforts has been the creation of an uneven and convoluted patchwork of export verification agreements that balkanize the beef trade and subject producers and processors to differing import requirements. This patchwork coupled with our willingness to forsake scientific principles in favor of political sensitivities in foreign countries has effectively deterred exports from the United States to once very profitable markets. The latest rejection of three shipments of U.S. beef to South Korea illustrates the difficulties facing the U.S. beef industry to secure fair and reasonable access to export markets. It also illustrates South Korea’s blatant disregard for science based standards. In light of these events, it is extremely unlikely that American producers and processors will pursue further shipments to Korea; once a robust market for the cattle industry. Shockingly, these events have transpired concurrently with our efforts to negotiate a "free trade" agreement with that country.

"The latest round of negotiations has resulted in little progress on the core issues and a refusal to resolve outstanding problems in our bilateral trade relationship. The continued intransigence of South Korean officials and negotiators causes us great concern. It would appear that continued negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement are unwise and signal to other potential and existing trading partners the willingness of the United States to continue its practice of capitulation in the face of an uneven and dishonest trading environment. We are not confident that continued negotiations will ultimately produce an agreement of fair, balanced or commercially meaningful consequence. Therefore, we urge you to suspend all negotiations with South Korea until exports of U.S. beef resume and both countries agree on reasonable and fair bone tolerance levels for future shipments. Anything less will result in our opposition to a free trade agreement with South Korea.

"As Members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, we regret coming to this decision since Korea is an important ally and trading partner. However, we cannot reward bad behavior and must stand behind farmers and ranchers in the United States who produce the safest, highest quality product the world has to offer. We have unfortunately set poor precedent in our dealings with the Japanese and cannot allow our position of advocating fair, science-based trade to erode further via a free trade agreement with South Korea under the current circumstances."

In response to the first rejection of a U.S. beef shipment in November, Senator Roberts sent a letter to the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea asking for immediate resumption of beef trade based on sound science in accordance with international standards.

Senator Roberts is a key member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.