Taiwan is still negotiating with the US about when to resume a long-stalled round of trade talks, a senior Ministry of Economic Affairs official said yesterday, after a new dispute over the use of animal drugs in US beef threatened to delay the talks again.
“We hope that the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement [TIFA] talks can take place as early as possible and we have been negotiating with the US on this issue,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) said.
The dispute was triggered when Taiwanese authorities ordered some cuts of beef imported from the US to be taken off the market after they were found to contain residue of drugs that promote leanness, which are banned in Taiwan.
Officials said the US decided to postpone talks originally -scheduled for the end of this month after the Taiwanese government took action against the beef imports.
To minimize the impact of the new beef dispute, Lin urged the US to work with Taiwan to come up with a solution to the problem during the talks.
The two countries have not held any TIFA talks since 2007 because of US dissatisfaction over a Taiwanese ban on US beef imports because of concern about mad cow disease.
The TIFA, signed in September 1994, provides an official framework for Taiwan-US dialogue on trade and economic issues in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Taiwan allows no residue of any animal feed additives, such as ractopamine, in meat products, while the US and other countries, such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, accept certain minimal amounts of residue.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said yesterday that the testing standards of these muscle-growth drugs could be part of the new TIFA talks.
It would be unacceptable, however, if the US used the resumption of TIFA talks to pressure Taiwan to ease its strict standards, he said.
Meanwhile, American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt was scheduled to arrive in Taipei late last night to brief Taipei on talks between US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) last week, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang (章計平) said.
Burghardt is scheduled to meet Ma tomorrow.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
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