Taiwan consumer group calls for BSE tests on US beef

The Consumers' Foundation in Taiwan demanded that the government include prion tests in its inspection of US beef imports to detect any possible bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) contamination.

The infectious agent in BSE is believed to be a specific type of misfolded protein called a prion. Those prion proteins carry the disease in transmission between individuals and cause deterioration of the brain.

The foundation and other civic groups will jointly submit a formal proposal in this regard to the Department of Health, according to foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen.

According to Hsieh, the risk of BSE contamination in US beef imports has increased because imports of bone-in beef from cattle younger than 30 months are now allowed under the beef trade protocol signed October 22 between Taiwan and the US.

In six months time, the two sides are expected to review the possibility of further opening Taiwan's market to boneless or bone-in beef from older cattle, which would further raise the risk of BSE contamination, he said.

Commenting on a referendum drive promoted by the foundation to reject high-risk beef products from the US, Hsieh said his foundation and allied groups are likely to expand their cooperation with other civic organisations with the goal of collecting one million signatures in the second phase of the campaign.

The proposed referendum will ask voters to veto the government's decision to open Taiwan's market to US bone-in beef, ground beef and bovine offal and spines, and demand that the government renegotiate a beef trade protocol with the US.