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Protests greet US beef imports

US beef products are displayed at a press conference held by members of the Consumers' Foundation yesterday in Taipei to lash out at the Department of Health's lack of a food inspection mechanism to ensure food safety after the government lifted a ban on imports of US beef. But government officials said that the opening to US beef was decided after a careful evaluation. PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES

Consumer advocates and several lawmakers yesterday lashed out at the government's decision to lift a 16-month-old ban on US beef as the Department of Health admitted that Taiwan is incapable of detecting whether imported beef products are free of the lethal mad cow disease.

They said that since the US is still identified as an area where bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease) remains a threat, with no remedies yet available, the government should not place commercial benefits ahead of public health.

Taiwan is the US' sixth-largest beef importer. Import volumes reached US$325 million in 2003.

"Can government officials guarantee that these US beef products are absolutely safe?" said Terry Huang (黃怡騰), secretary-general of the Consumers' Foundation (消基會), at a press conference yesterday.

Huang said that since the government announced the lifting of the ban in late March, it has yet to clearly explain to the public why it is allowing US beef to re-enter the market, especially when Japan, South Korea, China and Singapore have refused, citing food safety.

"Considering the frequent exchanges between the people of these nations and Taiwan, I'm afraid that Taiwan might form a gap in the line of defense [against the disease]," he said.

Local consumers' excitement over US beef products has attracted media attention in the region, with a TV crew from Japan's Yomiuri Telecasting Corp coming to Taiwan over the last few days to film Taiwanese savoring the long-banned beef.

Defending the policy, a health department official said a panel of 18 experts had inspected and evaluated safety measures in US slaughterhouses and concluded that the likelihood of a case of mad cow disease was minute. They therefore decided to conditionally allow the imports.

"I dare not say the risk is zero, but we have confidence in their [US] disease controls and management systems," said Hsiao Tung-ming (蕭東銘), deputy director of the department's food safety bureau.

He admitted that Taiwan now lacks high-end facilities to inspect for such diseases, although all imported meat, regardless of its origins, is tested for residues of animal drugs.

Currently, only boneless meat cut from cattle younger than 30 months old can enter the market. Cattle parts such as intestines and tonsils, which have a higher risk of being contaminated, are still prohibited.

Still, no one can guarantee that the disease does not exist in the muscles of cattle, said Su Wei-shou (蘇偉碩), a researcher at the office of Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lai Hsin-yuan (賴幸媛).

Examining slices of brain tissue is the only method now available to detect whether a cow has contracted the deadly disease.

Testing the safety of the meat itself cannot guarantee it has no risk, said Su, who is also a physician in Yunlin County.

Su said the government had argued that the likelihood of eating meat from a sick cow was less than one out of a million, but "if you are the unfortunate one, there is only one outcome -- death."

Moreover, the incubation period for the disease extends from 10 to 30 years, which is one of the reasons the government must not lower its guard, he said.

Dissatisfied with the health department's opening of the market, opposition lawmakers said they suspected that political pressure was behind the decision.

"On March 10, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said in a speech that he missed the steaks he had had in Houston and that he believed we'd soon have US beef in Taiwan again. Following his remarks, the health department began convening cross-ministerial negotiations [about lifting the ban on US beef]," said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇).

Even Council of Agriculture Chairman Lee Chin-lung (李金龍) had clearly stated that the council opposed allowing US cattle and beef to enter the nation, but regrettably, "the council's professionalism was not respected," KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.

"We appeal to the government to apply the brakes on this erroneous decision and not risk the public's health," Lai said.
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