US seeks Taiwan full opening to beef imports

The top US envoy to Taiwan said Tuesday (March 16) that the US is still looking for a full implementation of a beef import deal signed with Taiwan last October.

"Washington is still considering options for reaching the ultimate goal of fully implementing the beef protocol," said William Stanton, director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

Taiwanese government officials have said that Taiwan will try its utmost to communicate with the US government on Taiwan's market for US beef and beef products.

The October protocol promises that Taiwan will open its market to imports of US bone-in beef, ground beef and offal.

However, the Legislative Yuan, as a result of public pressure, amended the Act Governing Food Sanitation January 5 to ban certain beef products from countries with documented cases of mad cow disease over the past decade.

The amendment effectively bars US ground beef, beef offal and other beef parts such as skulls, eyes and intestines from access to Taiwan's market, but sets no restrictions on bone-in beef.