11/01/06 Taiwan export rules

Taiwan Export Rules Taiwan has just set some new rules for U.S. beef exports that are interesting. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you about them. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service just issued the new guidelines for exporting beef to Taiwan as sent to them by the Taiwanese government. This is for fresh /frozen boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age. Taiwan will no longer accept beef from Canadian cattle shipped to the U.S. for immediate slaughter. That should mean Taiwan only wants American beef from the United States and that seems reasonable since Taiwan does not directly import Canadian beef. R-Calf USA CEO Bill Bullard says this is would be a good situation to implement Country of Origin Labeling  that way foreign customers would be assured they were purchasing beef born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. Labeling U.S. beef would also allow domestic customers the opportunity to identify and choose U.S. beef. But here's the kicker  Taiwan also states in their guidelines that Canadian cattle imported into the U.S. for feeding and eventual slaughter are still eligible for export to Taiwan. What in the world is that about? Does that mean Taiwan would import Canadian beef, but is worried about the Canadian feeding process or Canadian feed processing? I don't know. One thing it does mean is that there will be a lot of Canadian cattle fed in the United States with the hope of selling them to Taiwan. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Livestock Reporter 10 11 06