North Dakota's agriculture commissioner says he is not surprised South Korea is holding off on allowing U.S. beef into that country after protests by people worried about mad cow disease.

Commissioner Roger Johnson says the U.S. Agriculture Department made a mistake about four years ago by not allowing the testing of all export animal products. He says he sent a letter to federal Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer suggesting USDA allow that testing.

Johnson says consumers have been led to believe something is wrong if animals are not tested, and he says it appears "like we've really shot ourselves in the foot big time over these last four or five years."