Taiwan president promises new approach to resolve beef row with US

Feb 1, 2012, 11:58 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou promised a visiting US representative Wednesday that his new government would work towards resolving an ongoing dispute over a partial ban on US beef imports.

Pushing Taiwan to open its markets to all US beef is a top priority for Raymond Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, who is visiting the island territory and its leaders this week. The institute is the de facto US diplomatic mission in the absence of formal ties.

'We know our American counterparts care deeply about the beef issue. After the new cabinet is sworn in on February 6, we will have new officials on this matter and will use a new approach,' Ma said during a meeting with Burghardt Wednesday.

Taiwan originally banned all US beef after a mad cow disease scare in 2003.

Ma's government signed a trade agreement with the US in October 2009 that opened Taiwan's markets to all US beef, but reneged when Taiwan's legislature passed restrictions in January 2010 due to public fear of mad cow disease and drug additives given to US cattle.

Currently, Taiwan bans ground beef, organ meats, and parts of a cow that are sensitive to mad cow disease, such as the skull, brains, eyes and spine. Taiwanese authorities also reject any meat that contains the drug Paylean, a feed additive given to cattle before they are slaughtered to enhance the meat's leanness.

In comments to reporters Tuesday, Burghardt turned up the pressure on Taiwan's government to lift the ban, suggesting that a lack of action could harm Ma's ambition for Taiwan to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional free trade agreement.

'Beef is one step towards Taiwan having a broader and more liberal overall trade posture,' Burghardt said. 'Taiwan has said it has interests in joining the TPP in 10 years. Why wait 10 years? Why not make it sooner? But there are a lot of things Taiwan would have to do with its agriculture policy, its policy in the pharmaceutical and financial sectors. All of these things have to be liberalized.'

US officials have cited the beef dispute as the primary reason why they have suspended any further trade talks with Taiwan.

Taiwan was the sixth largest importer of US beef in 2010, bringing in a total of 55,700 tons.

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