The US Department of State yesterday expressed disappointment over Taiwan’s partial ban on US beef products but said Washington would not retaliate by holding back arms sales to Taiwan.
“We’re very disappointed with the Taiwan legislature’s decision to ban certain cuts of US beef in violation of our bilateral agreement signed just over two months ago,” Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of the department’s Bureau of Public Affairs, said at a briefing in Washington.
“We remain committed, however, to further developing our broad-ranging and positive relationship with the people of Taiwan,” he said.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Crowley rejected speculation that the beef ban would affect the US’ intention to meet Taiwan’s security needs.
“US government policy and decisions in the security arena are based on the Taiwan Relations Act [TRA]. And as stipulated in the TRA, the US will continue to make available to Taiwan defense articles and services needed for Taiwan’s self-defense,” he said.
On Tuesday, the legislature passed an amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) that targets beef products from countries with documented cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, over the past decade. The amendment effectively bars US ground beef, beef offal and other beef parts such as the skull, eyes and intestines from access, contravening a bilateral protocol signed by Taiwan and the US in October.
After the American Institute in Taiwan on Tuesday expressed regret over the ban, Deputy US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis and Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Jim Miller also issued a statement to express disappointment and serious concern over the decision to “place domestic politics over science.”
Marantis and Miller said the amendment’s provisions “do not have a basis in science” and “constitute a unilateral violation” of the latest US-Taiwan protocol. They stressed that the protocol was negotiated on the basis of the guidelines laid out by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), as well as the findings of Taiwan’s own risk assessment, which concluded that all US beef and beef products were safe.
The US meat industry has objected to the ban, with National Cattlemen Beef Association (NCBA) chief economist Gregg Doud saying it was “outrageous” to suggest that US beef was risky and that “US beef producers are sick and tired of being used as political football” by Taiwanese politicians.
Doud said the concerns cited by politicians had no basis in scientific fact and “fly in the face of Taiwan’s own risk assessment.”
The NCBA urged the administration of US President Barack Obama to explore every option to rectify the situation.
American Meat Industry president J. Patrick Boyle said Taiwan had failed to live up to its obligations.
“US beef is among the safest anywhere and data show a record of sustained food safety progress,” he said. “There is simply no scientific basis for Taiwan’s action and at this point we must question the seriousness of their commitment to being a true trade partner.”
US Meat Export Federation president Philip Seng said the policy ignored scientific findings and the “controlled risk” status given by the OIE to both the US and Taiwan with regard to bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
GROWING MARKET
The federation added, however, that allowing imports of bone-in cuts would expand the US meat market in Taiwan. Taiwan is the US’ sixth-largest market for US beef exports by value. Exports totaled US$114.3 million last year — an increase of 6 percent over 2008.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday downplayed the impact of the amendment.
“What the US cares about is that we have signed the protocol but we passed an amendment that would contradict the protocol. It believes that we have breached our trade promise,” Wang said.
Wang said that ties between the two countries had only been slightly affected by the amendment and that the government would work to mend the relationship.
At a separate setting yesterday, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said the government would seek “immediate” consultations with Washington over the beef ban.
If that request is rejected, the two sides may have to wait until 180 days after the protocol’s implementation to review the deal.
The protocol states that the two sides shall consult within 180 days of the protocol’s implementation to review the deal and that consultations shall be held within seven working days of a request for review.
NO SHADOW?
After President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said the accord was valid despite the legislature’s partial ban, Wu yesterday said the government would honor the accord by importing bone-in beef from cattle younger than 30 months, hopefully in one to two months.
Wu said he was confident that the ban would not have a negative impact on relations as the two countries have a profound friendship.
“But we do need to cement relations with the US in terms of economic ties. I also hope the [ban] will not cast a shadow over the country’s credibility in terms of global trade and economic [activities],” Wu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said the caucus would communicate with members of Congress through the Taiwan-US Parliamentary Amity Association.
“We will do our best,” Lu said, but added that it was normal for a legislature to amend the law to reflect public opinion.
RESPONSIBILITY
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday demanded that a senior official step down to shoulder responsibility over the beef turnaround.
The DPP named three people: Ma, National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) and Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良).
“One of these three people must resign to answer to an angry public,” DPP spokeswoman Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said, adding that a poll conducted by cable network TVBS found that 33 percent of respondents blamed Ma, 22 percent blamed Yaung and 10 percent blamed Su.
The DPP has said that the Ma administration should shoulder responsibility for any fallout over the beef ban because it signed the protocol without public support.
Lu yesterday said Su should not have to step down over the controversy as he had only coordinated the talks with the US.
Asked for comment, Wang said he would respect Ma’s decision.
Lu said that since the legislature had completed the amendment, it could ask the Executive Yuan to “correct” any part of the protocol that violates the amendment.
CANADIAN TRADE
Meanwhile, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei said it had no comment on the amendment’s passage, but was watching the situation.
Canada Beef Export Federation Taiwan Office director Stella Siao (蕭子欣) said Canada had requested to export bone-in beef from cattle under 30 months of age to Taiwan, but the request had been blocked.
In other developments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a delegation from the Washington-based US-Taiwan Business Council led by chairman Paul Wolfowitz is expected to arrive at the end of the week.
The purpose of the routine visit is to promote closer business ties, the ministry said. The delegation will meet major policymakers, it said.
Wolfowitz, a former World Bank president and former US deputy defense secretary, will be accompanied by the council’s president, Rupert Hammond-Chambers.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING, SHIH HSIU-CHUAN AND CNA
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS