Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 2/23/15

Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration announced Sunday that it has banned imports of Canadian beef, according to a report in Want China Times.

The move comes less than two weeks after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed its first new case since 2011 of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a beef cow from Alberta. No part of the animal's carcass entered the human food or animal feed systems.

Taiwan becomes the fifth country to ban Canadian beef since the BSE discovery 10 days ago. South Korea immediately suspended quarantine inspections of Canadian beef, followed by Belarus, Indonesia and Peru.

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said that the five markets account for about 3 percent of Canada's beef export sales, according to a report in the Winnipeg Free Press.

In 2002, the year prior to the BSE ban, Canadian beef exports to Taiwan were valued at $19.8 million, ranking Taiwan as Canada’s fifth largest export market for beef. In June 2007, Canada regained access to Taiwan for boneless beef derived from animals younger than 30 months old.

The Taiwanese ban comes a year after the two countries signed an arrangement to expand market access to include Canadian bone-in beef and other specified beef products from animals under 30 months of age (UTM).

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