U.S. Beef Battle Ends with Taiwan

Jul 30, 2012

Taiwanese Government Lifts Ban on U.S. Beef Imports

The Taiwanese government lifted its six year ban over U.S .beef imports. The Taiwanese legislature passed a bill to lift the ban on U.S. beef. The ban was originally implemented in December 2003 with the mad cow scare and in 2009 the Taiwanese government partially removed the ban allowing cattle over 30 months of age. There have also been concerns that US beef contained ractopamine, a feed additive that’s designed to enhance meat leanness. Taiwan rejects all meat imports with traces of ractopamine. Other countries including China and the European Union also reject the additive.

During this six year period, US beef exports went from 10% to under 4% of Taiwan’s total beef imports. According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, Taiwan is the sixth largest export country for U.S. beef. There was some opposition in Taiwan from the Democratic Party that protested the bill.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.