Economics Minister John Deng, who is on an official trip to the US, has said that Taiwan’s ban on US beef organs will not be lifted. However, on Wednesday, Deng did confirm that six categories of US beef products – including bone marrow, blood vessels, beef head meat, beef cheeks, beef weasand, and beef tallow-- are allowed into Taiwan.
Deng denied that the government is allowing the import of these six items in exchange for US support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
“These items were allowed for import all along," said Deng. "What we are doing now is just giving these six items a specific import serial number instead of putting them in the ‘other’ category like before. We have assigned these six items a serial number because we want to be more precise.”
Deng said that the health and agriculture ministries have concluded, along with experts in the field, that these six items bear no health risk. He said that the imports will have no impact on Taiwan’s beef industry.