The government said Thursday it will allow imports of Canadian beef starting Friday, resuming imports it suspended in 2003 after an outbreak of mad cow disease in the North American country. Local livestock distributors will be able to sell Canadian meat from cows younger than 30 months old from this weekend.

The Agriculture Ministry said it will proclaim local distributors of the regulations and sanitary requirements on Friday, clearing the final procedure to resume the import.

Seoul has been pushing to revise its policies on food imports this year after a costly outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease led to culls of about 5 percent of the nation’s cattle herd and about one-third of its hog herd.

(cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)