11/14/06 S. Korea`s Response & Talk On Again

South Korea´s response to US attempts to clarify issues to reopen the market to our beef cleared some issues up, and left others unresolved. USDA Deputy Under Secretary Chuck Lambert. LAMBERT: The issue of silver skin which is a connective tissue in whole muscle cuts clarified that occurs in boneless beef and would not be a workmanship issue or a quality defect so that they would not discount that product. Regarding cartilage and bone chips and breast bone they did indicate as well that those would not be classified as or considered in their system as specified risk materials. They still will not be acceptable in boneless beef but the penalty for finding them would be potentially less than if they were classified for specified risk material. So those are the positive things. Now that the mid-term election is over - global free trade talks are back on the agenda. But in 2007 a new party will control the House and Senate - and some question whether that will help or hinder efforts in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations. Some argue the Democrats will be more willing to make concessions in agriculture. But WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has said failure to extend Presidential Trade Promotion Authority would be fatal to the Round. An extension was questionable under Republican leadership - but would reportedly be next to impossible to achieve under Democratic leadership. Lamy also notes that there`s just a brief window of opportunity to resume trade talks. In fact - he says that window will probably be closed permanently sometime around the end of this coming March. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. In the past sports marketing was defined buy Nike, NASCAR, the NFL even Michael Jordan that has all changed, today the most influential sports marketer isn't even American, rather Austrian, and simultaneously created both a new drink category and a new way to market sports without even promoting America's favorite sports or using famous spokespeople. Red Bull the European energy drink phenomena introduced in 1997 launched their empire by appealing to fringe sports junkies that competed in motocross, snowboarding, kayaking and triathlons and ski diving and other edgy sports Banking on it's appealing "extreme" image Red Bull now targets college kids and night clubbers who like to think they too push the envelope especially when mixing the sappy sweet energy drink with alcohol for an extra kick. Red Bull is rapidly working its way up the prestige sports ladder by purchasing a major league soccer team, sponsoring Formula One racing and most recently launching a NASCAR team that will compete next year. Is the NFL or the NBA ready for the Red Bulls? Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.