U.S. Beef Battle Ends with Taiwan

Taiwanese Government Lifts Ban on U.S. Beef Imports

By Graham Dyer, Farms.com

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.