Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) A spokesman for the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) urged Taiwan Saturday to allow the use of an animal feed additive that promotes leanness after a trade dispute over the drug between the U.S. and Taiwan resurfaced in recent days.
The United States encouraged Taiwan to "put in place import requirements consistent with best scientific research and international standards, " Chris Kavanagh said by telephone, referring to Taiwan's ban on ractopamine.
Earlier in the week, residue of the drug was detected in two batches of U.S. beef, some of which made its way onto store shelves and was sold to customers.
Ractopamine was also at the center of a dispute in 2007 when the Department of Health (DOH) and the Council of Agriculture (COA) considered lifting the ban, prompting a massive protest from local pig farmers as it would have allowed freer imports of foreign pork. The two agencies later agreed to keep the ban but proposed a revision of allowable maximum ractopamine residue (MRL) levels.
However, the revisions have not been carried out, even though it has been determined that the drug is safe and Taiwan has said it would notify the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its intention to adopt the MRL used by other countries, including the U.S., Australia and South Korea, Kavanagh said.
According to a DOH press release that same day, Taiwan has proposed adopting the MRL suggested by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization under the United Nations.
Kavanagh's comments came after similar remarks by the spokesman of the Office of the United States Trade Representative earlier that day.
The spokesman declined to comment on Taiwan's decision to pull the contaminated products from store shelves or on whether the issue will be discussed in the upcoming round of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks, an official framework for Taiwan-U.S. dialogue on trade and economic issues in the absence of diplomatic ties. TIFA talks have been suspended since 2007 mainly because of a controversy over beef imports from the U.S. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J