The Department of Health’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday said the first batch of US bone-in beef is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow.
“We have no idea how much US beef can be expected until the consignment is reported to the custom service when it arrives,” FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Sheue-rong (林雪蓉) said.
Lin said the first batch of US bone-in beef was initially scheduled to arrive today, but it had been rescheduled for a later flight because of limited cargo space on the aircraft originally to be used.
SCREENING
The beef will be shipped to a custom services warehouse upon arrival, where inspectors from the FDA and related agencies will carry out screening mechanisms to make sure the imports are safe for public consumption, Lin said.
Lin said the beef would be stored at the warehouse for five to six days until the results of the analysis of the samples taken prove that the beef is qualified as safe.
Taiwan signed a protocol with the US in October to allow the entry of bone-in beef and other beef products, including ground beef and offal, that had previously been banned out of concern over bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.
OUTCRY
In response to a public outcry, the legislature passed an amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) earlier this month that bans the import of specific beef products from countries with documented mad cow disease cases over the past decade.
The legislation effectively bars US ground beef, beef offal and some other beef parts, such as the skull, eyes and intestines, from access to Taiwan’s market, in contravention of the bilateral beef trade protocol signed with the US.
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