Resolving the prolonged dispute over US beef imports to Taiwan would create a new atmosphere for other trade-related talks to proceed, outgoing American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young said yesterday, asking the opposition to “focus on the science and not the politics.”
Speaking at his farewell press conference in Taipei, Young said health leaders under both governments had concluded that US beef was safe for human consumption, adding that the risk assessment results coincided with scientific evidence and World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) standards.
While Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) has publicly vouched for the safety of US beef, the Democratic Progressive Party said the government would be jeopardizing public health if the ban was lifted.
“I do ask them [the critics] to focus on the science and not the politics,” Young said.
Saying that imports of US beef to Taiwan amounted to a record US$136 million last year despite the restrictions on beef with bones, Young said this indicated that Taiwanese consumers already knew what US and many other consumers around the world know about US beef — that it is safe for consumption.
“I would be disingenuous if I didn’t admit that I’m disappointed that I’m preparing to leave [Taiwan] without this agreement having been reached, but I think we are very close,” he said.
Young is expected to leave his post next month after serving a three-year stint in the position.
Taiwan banned US beef in 2003 when a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) — also called mad cow disease — was diagnosed in Seattle. The ban was lifted in April 2005 to allow imports of US de-boned beef from cattle aged less than 30 months, but the government reimposed the ban two months later when a second BSE case was discovered in the US.
In 2006, the DOH agreed to allow beef imports once again, but only boneless beef from cattle younger than 30 months of age, produced by certified slaughterhouses and without any risky parts, such as brains, skulls, eyes, spinal nerve roots, tonsils and small intestines.
At a separate setting yesterday, DOH Deputy Minister Sung Yen-jen (宋晏仁) denied a rumor that the US government has been pushing the DOH on the issue, saying that the decision on whether to lift the ban was up to the DOH.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG
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