Taiwan will tighten checks on beef imports over food safety fears surrounding a controversial additive used to promote lean meat, officials said.
Several shipments of imported beef have been pulled from Taiwan’s shelves this year after they were found to be treated with ractopamine. And plans to lift a ban on ractopamine-treated US beef recently sparked protests from farmers, who fear the local meat industry could be undermined.
Beginning Tuesday, imports of beef products from the United States, Canada, Australia, Panama and Nicaragua will be tested shipment by shipment, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.
The move is aimed at calming the fears of local consumers who have shunned buying meat products, either imported or locally produced.
Observers say the plan to lift the ban on ractopamine-treated beef is aimed to facilitate stalled trade talks with the United States, a key trading partner and arms supplier of the politically isolated island.
“Before the existing law can be amended, all meat products treated with lean meat drugs are banned,” Tsai Shu-chen, an FDA official, said.
Taiwan, China and the European Union ban such drugs because of possible human health risks, but 26 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and Brazil, have declared the product safe.
Taipei, March 18, 2012 (AFP)
