September 20, 2012

US beef exports to Taiwan are expected to reach two thirds of the level it was at before the latter's ban on the products by the end of 2012 and will return to full levels by the end of 2013.

Imports of US beef. dropped to some 35,000 tonnes a year before the government lifted the ban on beef containing the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine, said Davis Wu, the US Meat Export Federation's director, on the sidelines of a dinner.

With the lifting of the ban, the imports will be expected to revert to the pre-ban levels of 38,000 tonnes a year by the end of 2013, he added. A new regulation allowing imported beef containing ractopamine took effect on September 11.