U.S. beef to be tested like other imports

The COA, in collaboration with customs authorities and the Bureau of Standards, Meteorology and Inspection, will check U.S. bone-in beef products upon entry to ensure they are 100 percent safe for local consumers, according to Hsu Tien-lai, director-general of the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.

Normally, samples of bovine brain tissue are used in tests to detect the presence of the abnormal prion protein associated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. However, BSE has never been detected in beef itself, therefore it has never been used to test for prion protein, Hsu said.

When the first batch of U.S. bone-in beef arrives at Taiwan's ports of entry, it will be subjected to the same inspection and quarantine procedures as other imported foods because it does not pose a BSE risk, he added.

The procedures will include random checks on the shipments to ensure that the productsconform to the informationon the certificates. Samples will be taken for laboratory testing mainly to determine the microbiological condition of the beef and whether it contains any drugs, Hsu added.

The joint inspections will take approximately 1-2 hours. The drug tests will take 1-2 days and the microbiological examination about 3-4 days, he said. Only after all the procedures have been completed in about 4-7 days, would the bone-in beef products go on sale in Taiwan, he stressed.

Taiwan lifted a ban on US bone-in beef, as well as on offal and ground beef from cattle younger than 30 months, on Nov. 2. The opening to US beef offal and ground beef, however, has triggered public concerns that the products could be hazardous to human health.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email