Is the US beef issue a stumbling block for TIFA? The Legislative Yuan sparked controversy

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) recently stated that the "U.S. beef issue" is a stumbling block for the continued negotiations between Taiwan and the United States on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). This statement sparked debate in the Legislative Yuan's Health and Environment Committee. Opposition legislators blasted that the United States unilaterally terminated the TIFA negotiations to coerce Taiwan to accept ractopamine beef, and that it may become greedy in the future and coerce Taiwan to further open up to ractopamine pork.

The American Institute in Taiwan stated that the "U.S. beef issue" is a stumbling block for Taiwan and the United States to continue negotiating TIFA. The opposition party is worried that if the U.S. succeeds in coercion this time, it may use subsequent TIFA negotiations in the future to coerce my country to further open up to ractopamine-containing pork.

Today, the Health and Environmental Committee invited representatives from the Department of Health, the Agriculture Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs to attend a report on "Investigation of the Fourth Case of Mad Cow Disease in the United States." Wang Zhengteng, deputy chairman of the Council of Agriculture, said that the nine slaughterhouses inspected this time covered 63.3% of the total beef imported into Taiwan in the past three years. The inspection ratio is the highest in history. Only one slaughterhouse had a defective method of removing the tonsils of the beef tongue, so the slaughterhouse's qualification to export beef to Taiwan has been suspended. Since beef tongue has never been imported to Taiwan in the past, it is preliminarily determined that the beef imported into Taiwan is safe. The complete inspection report will be sent to experts for review and discussion and is expected to be announced in early June.

DPP legislator Liu Jianguo said that Taiwan has always been a major importer of American beef. Since 2000, American beef containing ractopamine has been found to be imported into Taiwan. Statistics show that it accounts for about 25% of the total beef imported into Taiwan. He emphasized that currently 75% of American beef that does not contain ractopamine can be imported into Taiwan. He criticized the US for saying that it is a stumbling block to TIFA just to gain the import of the other 25% of American beef with ractopamine? Legislator Zhao Tianlin even pointed out that if the US succeeds in its coercion this time, it may use subsequent TIFA negotiations in the future to coerce my country to further open up to the use of ractopamine-containing pork.

DPP legislator Chen Oupo was puzzled and said that Taiwan is spending money to buy American beef. It is not that we do not buy it, but we are opposed to buying American beef with ractopamine. The AIT's words "are not just threats, but intimidation!" Legislator Chen Jieru also questioned that the inspection team had been looking for 23 days but still could not provide scientific evidence to ensure the safety of American beef. "Why should Taiwan continue to buy it?"

Kuomintang legislator Wu Yu-ren said that the health of the people cannot be compromised, but he reiterated that American beef is not poisonous. He pointed out that everything has a residual value, and if we insist on unscientific and irrational zero detection, it will become a trade barrier. He cited the example that after the signing of the trade agreement between the United States and South Korea, it caused economic losses of up to US$3.4 billion to our country. Our country must quickly sign TIFA to catch up. Therefore, he emphasized that in addition to maintaining the health of the people, we must also maintain the health of the country's economy so as not to return to locking down the country.

The Legislative Yuan is expected to vote on June 12 on the draft amendment to the Food Sanitation Management Act, which affects whether American beef containing ractopamine can be imported.