Business News
Taiwan seeks to control damage over US beef ban
Dec 30, 2009, 12:06 GMT
Taipei - Taiwan is to send a delegation to the United States next week to try to control damage brought about by a parliament agreement to reinstate a partial ban on imports of US beef parts, said Wang Yu-chi, spokesman for President Ma Ying-jeou.
Wang said the government hopes that through communication, the US would be able to understand the parliament's decision, thus minimizing the impact to the island.
Washington warned Taiwan over the plan to reinstate the ban two months after Taiwan signed a protocol with the US on resuming the imports.
The amendment, to which the ruling and opposition parties agreed Tuesday ahead of a vote early in the new year, followed a public backlash against the government's decision to lift the restrictions, which provoked fears of transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease.
The legislation would reinstate a ban on cattle skulls, brains, eyes, spines, minced beef and offal from any country found to have had mad-cow disease in the past 10 years, which would include the United States.
Both Taiwan's foreign and economics ministers admitted that the consequences would be serious if the amendment was passed and said they believed it would affect US-Taiwan trade talks set for next year.
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