A delegation of the nation’s major grain importers on Wednesday at Capitol Hill in Washington signed a letter of intent with US grain producers, agreeing to purchase US$3 billion worth of grains.
The signing was attended by 15 US Congress members, including US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman Pat Roberts and US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Chairman Ted Hoyo, as well as Representative to the US Stanley Kao (高碩泰).
At the event, several US congressmen conveyed their gratitude to Taiwan for providing US$800,000 in financial aid toward the relief effort for Hurricane Irma, saying it provided the US with much-needed help and further consolidated the rapport between the two sides.
Photo: Nadia Tsao, Taipei Times
Council of Agriculture (COA) Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城), who led the delegation, said the procurement would be carried out after taking domestic needs into account, adding that it would help balance trade between Taiwan and the US.
The delegation consists largely of wheat importers and soy and corn importers.
The wheat importers are to travel to North Dakota, Montana and Idaho, while the soy and corn importers are bound for Iowa, Indiana and Missouri for in-depth discussions on agricultural trade with local grain suppliers and officials.
Worldwide, Taiwan is the fifth-largest importer of US soy and corn and the sixth-largest in terms of US wheat imports.
When asked about imports of US beef and pork containing the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine, Huang said the issue was discussed on Tuesday, when the delegation visited the US Department of Agriculture and Department of State.
“There is somehow a gap between scientific evidence and popular beliefs. Taiwan and the US will work together to narrow that gap,” Huang said.
The issue does not necessarily need to be on the agenda for bilateral negotiations on reinstating the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, as the COA and its US counterpart would have many other opportunities to exchange opinions, Huang said.
The council has not set a timetable for allowing US pork imports, he said, adding that Taiwanese need to be given more time to learn about ractopamine’s real effects on people’s health.
Taiwan in 2012 set the maximum permitted concentration of ractopamine residue in beef at 10 parts per billion in accordance with standards introduced by the UN Codex Alimentarius Commission, but has since not made progress on determining health risk assessment of ractopamine residue in pork, Huang said.
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