world (Kansas City Star) Japan will suspend beef imports from a U.S. meatpacker after finding packages of beef sausage in a shipment in violation of a regulation imposed because of mad cow concerns. [News Source]

WORLD (Kansas City Star) South Korea said it would suspend imports of beef from a Nebraska slaughterhouse after inspectors found three bone fragments in a shipment, a violation of an agreement related to mad cow disease. [News Source]

WORLD (Kansas City Star) Japan is set to import 15,000 tons of U.S. beef in 2006, just a fraction of what it bought before a two-year hiatus spurred by a scare over mad cow disease, a trade group said. The total of 15,000 tons is just 7.5 percent of the 200,000 tons valued at $1.4 billion that Japan imported in 2003 before the ban was imposed. [News Source]

WORLD (Kansas City Star) South Korea today agreed to resume imports of U.S. beef after repeated delays in implementing an earlier decision to lift a 2003 ban imposed because of mad cow fears. [News Source]