U.S. and South Korean agriculture officials concluded the first day of beef-trade talks on Thursday but made no progress, the Associated Press reported.

The two-day summit, aimed at re-negotiating revisions to South Korea's import rules, will resume and end Friday in Seoul.

While Washington wants full-scale access to Seoul's market, media reports indicate that South Korea is offering to welcome ribs but maintain its ban on specified risk materials associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Washington's request is leveraged by the World Organization for Animal Health's designation of the United States as a controlled-risk region for BSE, which technically allows it to export beef derived from cattle of any age.

However, South Korea, which currently accepts only boneless U.S. meat from cattle less than 30 months old, and other countries aren't legally bound by OIE guidelines.

By Tom Johnston on 10/11/2007 for Meatingplace.com