November 22, 2007

Taiwan rejects US beef shipment due to discovery of bone chips

The latest shipment of US beef to Taiwan was rejected due to the discovery of five bone chips, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

The DOH official said that five bone chips, of sizes ranging between 0.7 cm and 2 cm, were discovered by inspectors at Taichung Harbour in central Taiwan during the shipment of 18,349 kilogrammes of frozen beef from the Cargill slaughtering and processing company in Nebraska.

DOH announced not only the barring of entry for the beef shipment but also the suspension of further imports from Cargill.

Currently, US only ships boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age to Taiwan due to mad cow disease concerns.

The latest incident was the second time that bone chips were discovered in US beef imports since the re-opening of the local market to beef from that country.

In April 2006, a shipment from another US company was rejected after quarantine officials at Taoyuan International Airport discovered bone chips in the shipment.

Taiwan banned beef imports from the US in December 2003 after the discovery of mad cow disease in Washington.

Back in April 2005, Taiwan lifted an import ban on US boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age, but again suspended American beef imports on June 25, same year, after a second case of mad cow disease was confirmed in the US.

The second ban was lifted on Jan. 25, 2006.