Taiwan seeks to re-open beef trade talks with U.S.

Wu explained yesterday that renegotiations are necessary now that a small part of the Taiwan-U.S. beef trade protocol signed in October has become inapplicable.

New talks can be held immediately if Taiwan's request is accepted by the U.S. government, he said.

Otherwise, any further talks will have to wait until the protocol has been in force for 180 days, when consultations on the issue will become compulsory, according to Wu.

He said the government will do its utmost to try to mend relations with the U.S., which has maintained a firm and long-standing friendship and shares many common interests with Taiwan.

The premier expressed confidence that Washington will not allow the controversy over the ban on ground beef and beef offal, which account for only two percent of all U.S. beef imports in terms of value, to affect other more important areas of bilateral ties.

“As a democratic country, the U.S. can certainly understand the legislative and executive branches' need to prioritize the safety and health of the people,” Wu said.

Speaking at the weekly meeting of the Central Standing Committee of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), President Ma Ying-jeou said the latest response from the U.S. may indicate that Washington is able to understand the nation's attitude concerning the controversy.

Ma, who is concurrently KMT chairman, also stressed that the new beef agreement signed in October remains effective and the lawmakers' passage of new food sanitation rules does not mean that the government has abrogated the pact.

The president said his administration has been interacting smoothly with the U.S. He also expressed the hope that the possible impact be properly contained.

Continuing Cooperation

Cabinet spokesman, Su Jun-pin, called on the U.S. to cherish its trade relations with Taipei in the wake of a beef row and continue to promote bilateral trade cooperation.

Su stated Taiwan's hopes one day after the U.S. government expressed disappointment over a law amendment by the Legislative Yuan, which bars the import of specific U.S. beef products.

The government will explain to the U.S. about the law amendment and hear its views, Su said.

The Cabinet hopes that Washington can understand that the law amendment is in response to public concerns over the bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, and that the amendment was “normal under a democratic system.”

Su said that U.S. ground beef or offal which will be banned from imports as a result of the law amendment account for only a fraction of the beef imports from the U.S. The impact of the new rules on bilateral Taiwan-U.S. trade should be limited.

'Political Football'

The U.S. government and its meat industry criticized Taiwan's decision to restore a partial ban on U.S. beef imports as using American beef producers as a “political football.”

The U.S. State Department, U.S. Trade Representative Office (USTR), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), the U.S. Meat Export Federation (MEF) and the American Meat Institute (AMI) all expressed their disappointment over the Legislative Yuan's decision to tighten the food sanitation regulations.

Responding to a reporter's question, Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of the Bureau of Public Affairs at the U.S. State Department, said in a briefing Wednesday that the U.S. was “very disappointed” with Taiwan's decision to ban certain cuts of U.S. beef in violation of the bilateral agreement.

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