July 2, 2012

 

Taiwan reiterates uncertain period of US beef issue resolution

 

 

Taiwan has denied a report about its intention to solve the US beef imports issue after the presidential election in January and reiterated that it never promised US it will resolve the long-running dispute by a certain time, the government said Friday (June 29).

 

"The government has maintained a responsible attitude" on the issue of whether to lift the ban on US beef imports containing the livestock leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

 

The ministry's remarks were in response to a report by International Community Radio Taipei, in which US Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa said Taiwan's government promised him a year ago that the beef issue would be addressed after the country's January 14, 2012 presidential election.

 

Whether to allow US beef imports containing traces of ractopamine, a feed additive banned in Taiwan, has been hotly debated in Taiwan in recent months.

 

After holding three interministerial meetings also attended by members of the academia and private groups, the government proposed in March to conditionally ease the ban on ractopamine.

 

The proposal was based on the principles of specifying a safe level of ractopamine, issuing separate permits for beef and pork imports, mandating the labelling of beef imports and excluding imports of beef organs.

 

However, the government's decision has sparked stiff opposition among opposition parties and many civic groups that cite safety concerns over the use of ractopamine.

 

Government officials, however, have argued that the decision factors in public health and that there is no scientific evidence of people having fallen ill after consuming meat containing "certain allowed levels" of ractopamine.

 

The ministry also said Taiwan is hoping to resume trade talks with the US after the beef issue is resolved.

 

The resolution of the beef issue will help advance bilateral trade ties and help "Taiwan to join the trend of economic integration," it added.

 

The ministry said it also hopes the US will understand the government's commitment to solving the beef issue.

 

Washington regards Taiwan's ractopamine ban as a trade barrier and has implied that the resumption of talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement rests on the beef issue.

 

The TIFA was signed in 1994 as a framework for Taiwan-US dialogue on trade-related issues in the absence of diplomatic ties, but has been suspended since 2007 mainly because of controversies over US beef.