Four key policies on meat imports would largely remain unchanged under a newly signed Taiwan-US trade agreement, the Executive Yuan said today, amid concerns that the deal may expose Taiwan to health risks brought by expanded beef imports.
Under the US-Taiwan Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, Taiwan has agreed to remove non-tariff import barriers on US ground beef and offal, including heart, liver and kidneys, it said.
However, not all beef products would be open to import, it added.
Photo: CNA
All US beef products approved for import would also be tariff-free, the Cabinet said.
The Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) prevents the import of internal cow organs from countries that have reported cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, in the past decade, the Cabinet said.
As the US has not reported a classical BSE case with epidemic transmission risk for more than 20 years, certain offal would be allowed, it said.
However, bans on sensitive items such as spinal cords and skulls would not change, it added.
Regulations would also remain in place for country-of-origin labeling on beef and pork in packaged and bulk products, as well as in food and beverage establishments, it said.
The government would also continue to prioritize domestically produced meat for school lunches, it said.
Lastly, food safety management mechanisms would remain unchanged, with all source, border and post-market measures to remain in place, it said.
That includes annual on-site inspections in the US, risk-assessed border inspections, post-market audits and random sampling, it said.
Taiwan would continue to align with international standards regarding maximum residue limits for ractopamine in beef and pork, it added.
Moreover, regulations on genetically modified foods remain unchanged and must receive Taiwan’s approval before import, pre-market inspection, registration and meet labeling requirements, it said.
Genetically modified foods would continue to be banned for school lunches, it added.
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