The Department of Health (DOH) will convene a food -safety committee on March 28 to discuss whether to lift Taiwan's ban against Canadian beef, Hsiao Tung-ming (蕭東銘), deputy director at the department's Bureau of Food Safety, said today.
Asian markets, including China, Japan and Taiwan, banned Canadian beef after Canada had a mad cow case in May 2003.
The news came after the DOH announced on Thursday that Taiwan will conditionally allow US imports of boneless meat from cattle younger than 30 months starting on April 16.
Taiwan, once the sixth-largest buyer of US beef, banned US beef imports 15 months ago because of the first US case of mad cow disease.
Japan and South Korea, the largest and third-biggest markets for US beef, are sticking to their bans after more than 40 nations suspended US beef purchases in December 2003.
While DOH said the nation will conditionally allow imports of US beef and beef products, the Council of Agriculture said later Thursday that an import ban on live cattle from the US will remain in place in line with regulations set forth by the World Animal Health Organization.
The US welcomes Taiwan's announcement that it will re-open its market to US boneless beef starting April 16, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday.
"This action is the result of a long and detailed assessment by the Department of Health of safequard measures established by the US government to prevent the introduction and spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)," the statement reads.
US exports fell
Taiwan imported 19,225 tons of US beef worth about US$76 million in 2003, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Total US beef exports fell to 461 million pounds last year from US$2.5 billion in 2003, the US Department of Agriculture said March 10.
The department projected 640 million pounds of exports this year.
Japan, which had US$1.7 billion in purchases of US beef and beef products in 2003, has declined to give a timetable on ending its ban.
Japan has been negotiating with the US on how to determine a cattle's age after agreeing in October to resume buying beef from cattle aged less than 20 months.
"We are still reviewing the recommended testing standards with the Health Ministry and Food Safety Commission," Kazuhiro Yoshida, who is an official in charge of food safety at the ministry of agriculture, said today.
In South Korea, Trade Minister Kim Hyun Chong said US experts must present more scientific information that its beef is free of mad cow disease.
South Korea doesn't have enough information to convince the nation that US beef is safe to eat, he said.
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