After its Legislature passed a bill to lift ban on beef imports containing drug ractopamine, the US will monitor Taiwan's implementation of action needed to allow the resumption of expanded US beef imports, an official of the Office of the US Trade Representative said Wednesday (July 25).

"We look forward to the quick implementation of the maximum residue level for ractompamine and the resumption of expanded access for American beef in Taiwan," the US official said

But the official declined to comment at length about any resumption of long-stalled talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), which have been hampered due to the US beef dispute.

The official said only that the US "will be consulting with stakeholders and with Taiwan counterparts on concrete next steps to revitalise our bilateral trade relationship."

Taiwan's representative office has asked the US to resume the talks now that the beef hurdle has been cleared.

The Legislature passed an amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation Wednesday (July 25) Taiwan time, opening the way for imports of American beef containing ractopamine, which is currently banned in Taiwan.

The amendment allows the Taiwanese authorities to set maximum residue limits (MRLs) for beta-agonists, including ractopamine, permitted in local and imported meat and other products.

The Department of Health plans to cap the allowable level at a maximum of 10 parts per billion, the same level voted upon in early July by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the United Nations' food safety body.