Several government agencies held a joint news conference April 19 to explain regulations and inspection methods for U.S. beef imports after recent approval granted for the import of a 453-kilogram batch of U.S. beef offal gave rise to controversy.
The Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs approved the application by an unnamed local importer April 15 to import the batch of U.S. beef, which is believed to have contained high-risk items. Data provided by the applicant is unclear regarding which beef offal products the approved shipment contains.
At the news conference convened by the Department of Health, Council of Agriculture and MOEA, government officials said that applications for beef parts that are not classified as internal organs would be approved.
The DOH said following discussions with academics and experts, six types of beef products were not considered high-risk internal organs. They are beef tongues, testicles, penises, tails, tendons and diaphragms, which are therefore eligible for import into Taiwan.
Nevertheless, the government officials said rigorous testing of beef tongues imported from the United States would be conducted on a batch-by-batch basis to quell public concerns about their safety.
Hsu Tien-la, director-general of the COA’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said that circumvallate papillae at the base of the cow tongues as well as tonsils are required to be removed before the tongues are allowed to enter the country.
These parts are seen as controversial because people who consume them are at higher risk of contracting bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease.
Any cow tongues that are found to contain these high-risk parts will be destroyed, and only those that pass the checks will undergo further testing for bacteria and antibiotics, Hsu explained.
Kang Jaw-jou, director-general of the Food and Drug Administration under the DOH, said cow tongues must first be granted approval from the BOFT for import into Taiwan, with the permit period lasting for half a year.
Beef offal from the U.S. must come from one of 40 slaughterhouses that have received special permits from the U.S. government, he pointed out. After arriving in Taiwan, the cow tongues will be subject to inspection batch-by-batch, he added.
The first batch of other beef offal will be inspected in the same way, but if it passes the checks, only 5 percent of the cases in subsequent shipments will be inspected, Kang said.
Legislator Wang Sing-nan of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party requested that the BOFT permit for the U.S. beef offal in question be canceled. MOEA officials said carrying out inspections on each case in a shipment would be difficult, so inspecting the imports batch-by-batch is more feasible. (SB)