The foreign ministry says Taiwan will base any decision about whether to allow US beef and pork imports on science and expert views. That was the word from foreign ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou on Thursday.
Ou was responding to the 2020 white paper recently released by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. The chamber has called for Taiwan to be more flexible in its attitude towards the import of US beef and pork.
Taiwan banned the import of US beef in 2003 due to mad cow disease, conditionally lifting the ban in 2006. Meanwhile, it has banned imports of US pork for more than ten years because of the use of leanness enhancing drug ractopamine.
Ou said that the foreign ministry will respect the expertise of Taiwan’s science ministry and Council of Agriculture. She also said the ministry will accept any consensus reached by Cabinet agencies. Ou said any decision will comply with international trade rules, have a basis in international food safety standards, and consider the developmental needs of Taiwan’s own agricultural sector.