The thorny issue of US pork imports needs to be addressed if Taiwan hopes to join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) regional trade bloc, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Taiwan maintains a policy of “separating US beef from pork,” but the TPP is a high-standard agreement, the ministry’s Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs Director-General Michael Tseng (曾永光) said at a news briefing.
The high standards set for the TPP include “scientific evidence as the basis for trade issues,” he said in response to reporters’ questions about the progress of Taiwan’s bid to participate in the TPP.
To pave the way for Taiwan to join the TPP, Taiwan must deal with the issue of US pork imports, Tseng said.
Support for Taiwan’s TPP bid from the US is more important than from any other TPP member, and US officials have repeated that the pork issue needs to be handled, he added.
Taiwan prohibits imports of US pork that contain traces of ractopamine, a feed additive to promote leanness in animals that is banned in Taiwan.
It previously prohibited imports of beef containing ractopamine, but lifted the ban in July 2012, setting the stage for the resumption of talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between Taiwan and the US in March 2013.
This year’s TIFA talks were held on Oct. 1 in Taipei. Afterward, the American Institute in Taiwan said the two sides held in-depth discussions on various agricultural issues in their latest round of TIFA talks, but added that further efforts were needed to ensure progress on those issues.
Speaking on Taiwan’s preparations to join the TPP, Tseng said the government has strengthened efforts to fill the gap between domestic regulations and the standards set for the TPP.
The US and 11 other Pacific Rim countries concluded TPP negotiations on Oct. 5. The deal covers about 40 percent of the global economy. The other participating countries are Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and Brunei.
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