Swift & Co. is getting ready to ship beef to South Korea for the first time in more than three years.

South Korean diners have been without U.S. beef since December 2003 when the first case of mad cow disease was verified in a Washington state cow. South Korea has rejected previous shipments of U.S. beef after it resumed trade of boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age from the United States in September 2006. But more than six tons of beef shipped last week by Creekstone Farms Premium Beef of Arkansas City, Kan., passed inspection.

That could lead to more beef imported from the U.S., including that from Swift & Co. of Greeley, which operates four beef packing plants including the one in north Greeley, said Sean McHugh, company spokesman.

"We are getting product ready in the pipeline, and it's likely that we will be shipping that product in the next few weeks," McHugh said Monday.

And the Japanese market for more U.S. beef also may be improving.

Last week, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the U.S. and Japan have agreed on two key steps toward expanding beef trade with Japan.

The first would be additional audits of U.S. beef processing plants, but McHugh said he doesn't think Swift will be subject to any further inspections as Japanese audit teams inspected their beef plants in December last year.

Also, after the latest round of audits and Japan's verification process is complete, its government has said it will discontinue its requirement of inspecting 100 percent of the boxes of beef shipped from plants in the U.S. According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Denver, the lifting of that restriction means that U.S. beef exports to Japan could double from current levels, which had been slowed by Japan's arduous inspection and customs process.

U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., joined 22 of their colleagues in signing a letter last week urging President Bush to push for expansion of U.S. beef into Japan.

In that letter, the senators said that "American ranchers and meat processors produce the healthiest and safest beef in the world. Nevertheless, current Japanese import standards severely restrict U.S. beef imports contrary to international scientific standards. In our view, all trading partners, including Japan, should bring their import requirements for U.S. beef into line with the (World Organization for Animal Health) standards and allow trade in beef from animals over 30 months."