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Taiwan, like Japan, to resume US beef imports

Taiwan, the sixth-largest buyer of US beef, agreed to resume importing the meat following a 10-month suspension prompted by a lone case of mad cow disease in Washington state, the US Depart-ment of Agriculture said.

Taiwan "has agreed in principle" to resume imports, US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said in a statement.

The shipments were worth US$76.3 million last year, the department said. Japan, the biggest overseas customer for US beef, agreed to ease its ban on Oct. 23.

"It's excellent news," said Gregg Doud, an economist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, who said Hong Kong and China may soon follow Taiwan's example.

"Taiwan and Hong Kong could get us momentum for a China reopening," he said. Hong Kong bought US$90 million in US beef in 2003 and China US$28.2 million.

Taiwan, Japan and more than 40 other nations suspended imports of US beef in December last year after the government announced the first case of mad cow disease in US history. The import bans threatened more than US$3.8 billion in annual US exports and eroded profit for beef producers such as Tyson Foods Inc and Cargill Inc.

Taiwan may resume imports after its experts visit the US to inspect measures taken to counter mad cow disease, which is formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy and has a fatal human variant, Veneman said. That inspection is scheduled to begin on Nov. 10.

Japan, which bought US$1.7 billion in US beef last year, agreed to accept US shipments of beef from cattle 20 months of age or younger, which are not known to carry the disease.

Taiwan agreed to ease its ban following a visit earlier this week by a US delegation headed by Agriculture Department Undersecretary J.B. Penn, who had led the discussions with Japan.

The delegation plans to visit other buyers of US beef in the region, the department said.
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