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U.S. trade official cancels Taiwan trip
Story Date: 3/5/2012
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Source: MEATINGPLACE, 3/2/12
A senior U.S. trade official has canceled a planned trip to Taiwan, citing “unforeseen circumstances,” weeks after the government ordered more U.S. beef pulled from store shelves after finding the drug ractopamine in some samples.
The American Institute in Taiwan announced the postponement of the planned March 4-6 visit by U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez and said in a statement it is looking at options for a future visit.
Separately, a Taiwanese news outlet identified a vendor in Taichung as the importer of U.S. beef that tested positive for ractopamine last July. The vendor, Natural Meat Corp., was ordered to recall as much of the imported U.S. boneless steak as it could, according to the article, which can be viewed here.
Ractopamine, which promotes leanness in animals, is banned in Taiwan, China, the European Union and other countries.
The United States is among 26 countries that have declared ractopamine safe for human consumption. U.S. officials appear to want Taiwan to loosen its policy on ractopamine in exchange for moving forward on the proposed Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
Several consumer groups in Taiwan this week sued the government’s health and agriculture ministers, accusing them of violating anti-corruption laws over the recent discoveries of meat products containing banned substances, the Taipei Times reported.
Taiwanese farmers also have threatened to stage protests in Taipei if the government bows to U.S. pressure to ease restrictions on the drug.
For more stories, go to http://www.meatingplace.com/.
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