August 1, 2012

In a letter to the US government, the National Pork Producers Council (NPCC) expresses serious concerns about resuming Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) negotiations with Taiwan as the latter has yet to cease a ban on a widely approved dietary additive employed in pork production.

The Taiwanese parliament recently voted to ease restrictions on US beef imports from cattle produced with Ractopamine but left the ban in place on pork produced with the same product.

Ractopamine is a dietary additive that improves the feed efficiency, growth rate and lean carcass percentage of live hogs and cattle. It has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and by the food-safety agencies in 24 countries. Earlier this month, the UN's Codex Alimentarius, which sets international standards for food products, approved a maximum residue limit (MRL) for ractopamine, which US pork meets.

"Failing to lift the ractopamine ban for pork was not an inadvertent omission," said NPPC President R.C. Hunt, a pork producer from Wilson, NC "It is nothing more than a ploy by the Taiwanese government to bring the US back to the TIFA negotiating table.

"In Taiwan, pork production is much more important than beef, and pork producers have much more political clout," Hunt added. "This, and only this, explains the decision to lift the ractopamine ban on beef but not on pork."

NPPC asked US Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Department of Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, to make clear to Taiwan that lifting the ractopamine ban for beef only will not prompt the US to re-open TIFA talks with Taiwan. TIFA provides a framework for expanding trade and resolving trade disputes between countries.

The pork organisation also urged the US officials to "up the ante" on Taiwan by indicating that the US will not support the Asian nation's entry into negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional trade pact, until it drops its ractopamine ban on pork imports.

"We believe it is time for the US to explore all potential means, including legal tools, of getting the Taiwanese to open their market," said Hunt.

If Taiwan were to lift the ractopamine ban on pork imports, US pork exports to that country would increase to US$417 million within 10 years, according to Iowa State University economist, Dermot Hayes. Just US$53.8 million of US pork was shipped to Taiwan in 2011.