The US government expressed its concerns over Taiwan’s mandatory country-of-origin labeling for US pork imports and maximum ractopamine content restrictions for some pork products in a report released on Thursday.
The US Trade Representative (USTR) on Thursday released this year’s National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, in which Taiwan’s regulations governing imports of US pork and beef products were among the issues addressed.
Taiwan began allowing imports of US pork containing ractopamine on Jan. 1 last year after it established maximum residue levels (MRLs) and put in place country-of-origin labeling measures.
Taiwan’s presentation of the labeling requirements to the public as a means to ensure the food safety of US pork products, while simultaneously implementing MRLs for ractopamine in imported pork, “inaccurately implied that there is a food safety concern with US pork products,” the USTR said in the report.
EU DISTINCTION
The report’s assessment runs counter to that of the EU, which bans the import of meat containing the feed additive and whose food safety agency in 2009 said that there was insufficient data to conclude that ractopamine is safe for human consumption.
Although the USTR report said that Taiwan’s ractopamine policy for imported pork kidneys and other edible parts was more restrictive than the MRLs established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the commission has been criticized for pursuing the interests of global agribusiness and not acting as an impartial standards-setting agency.
Despite this, the report raised concerns that Taiwan’s method of testing for ractopamine residue is not aligned with methods of analysis for ractopamine recommended by the commission and could provide inaccurate results.
Meanwhile, the USTR urged Taiwan to lift its ban on imports of US ground beef and some internal organs, and open its market fully to US beef products based on World Organization for Animal Health guidelines, the US’ negligible risk status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and the 2009 beef protocol signed by Taiwan and the US.
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