June 1, 2012

 

Taiwan's decision to allow US beef unrelated to visa issue

 

 

The decision of Taipei to allow US beef imports with a banned drug is not associated with US' willingness to include Taiwan in its Visa Waiver Program (VWP), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday (May 30).

 

Importing American beef containing residues of the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine is an economic issue, while Taiwan's application for admission to the visa waiver programme is related to the facilitation of travel, Deputy Foreign Minister Tung Kuo-yu said.

 

"The two issues are different and are not linked," he stressed at a question-and-answer session at the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

 

Tung's remark came a day after ruling party lawmakers visited William Stanton, director of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan, the agency that represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties.

 

After the meeting, the lawmakers quoted Stanton as saying that resolving the US beef issue would be beneficial to the resumption of talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and Taiwan's inclusion in the visa waiver programme.

 

Describing Stanton's statement as a "threat," Tsai Huang-liang, a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said Washington is forcing Taipei to consume its beef products in exchange for other interests.

 

Tsai also accused the President Ma Ying-jeou administration of "cheating" the public by promising that there would be no exchanges of interests between Taiwan and the US.

 

Lin Yu-fang, a lawmaker who visited Stanton Tuesday, said it is common for countries to have a "give-and-take" relationship, and that the US beef controversy is indeed an issue of national interest.

 

The Ma administration proposed in early March to lift the ban on imports of beef with ractopamine residues based on a number of guidelines, including setting a safe level for the drug's residues and insisting on clear labelling of meat imports.

 

Local civic groups and opposition parties argued, however, that the health risks associated with ractopamine were too great and sought to block passage of an amendment that would lift the ban on the drug's use as a feed additive for cattle.

 

Imports of US beef have been a sore point in trade ties between Taipei and Washington.

 

Taiwan first banned imports when a case of mad cow disease was reported in the state of Washington in December 2003, but re-opened its doors to imports of boneless US beef from cattle under 30 months old in April 2005.

 

It imposed another ban in June 2005 when a second US case was reported.

 

Imports of boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age were resumed in 2006 and of bone-in beef in late 2009.

 

Washington has been pressing for wider opening and, more recently, has been lobbying strongly for Taiwan to lift its ban on beef containing ractopamine residues.