The Department of Health will convene a meeting later this month to discuss a request by Washington for Taiwan to lift its ban on US beef imports, a senior official said yesterday.
Bureau of Food Safety Director-General Chen Lu-hung (陳陸宏) said that the US has submitted a report confirming the safety of its beef via the American Institute in Taiwan and expressing the hope that Taiwan will re-open to US beef imports.
Chen said the experts taking part in the meeting will assess the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, cases in the US as well as the safety of US beef before deciding whether to lift the ban.
The participants of the meeting will review the report by the AIT as well as domestic studies and express their own views, Chen said. If the experts are satisfied that US beef is indeed safe, then Taiwan will re-open to imports, he added.
Taiwan first banned imports of US beef, live cattle and all related products in December 2003 after the discovery in Washington State of a single BSE case, the first US case of mad cow disease.
Taiwan purchased US$325 million worth of US beef and beef products in 2003 and was the sixth-largest importer of US beef before imposing the ban. The government lifted the ban on US boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age on April 16. It reimposed the ban on June 25 after a second BSE case in the US was confirmed by a UK lab.
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