June 7, 2010

Taiwan to inspect US beef slaughterhouses

Taiwan will for the first time send officials to conduct on-site inspections of slaughterhouses that have their beef exported to Taiwan, Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang said Sunday (June 6).

Yaung said the move, slated for August or September, is to be taken to ensure that all US beef exports are adequately labelled, as required by the country's regulations.

"Five to 10 slaughterhouses or packing facilities in the US will be inspected by Taiwanese officials this time," Yaung said.

US has recently called for Taiwan to accelerate its imports of US beef products.

In a meeting on the sidelines of the conference of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers held June 5-6 in Sapporo, Japan, US officials told their Taiwanese counterparts that Washington would be happy to see Taipei speed up its examination procedures and customs clearance for US beef imports.

"The examination procedures and customs clearance will be able to become faster after the labelling problems are addressed," Yaung said.

Taiwan's legislature revised laws late last year to ban imports of certain US beef products, including skulls, brains, eyes and internal organs of US cattle.