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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TAIPEI 002382 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR, STATE FOR EAP/TC,USTR FOR STRATFORD, KATZ, 
AND O'CONNOR, TREASURY FOR OASIA/TTYANG, COMMERCE FOR 
4431/ITA/MAC/AP/OPB/TAIWAN 
USDA FOR FAS/OA, OSTA, OFSO, AND OCRA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ETRD ECON PGOV PREL TW
SUBJECT: USTR/USDA BEEF DELEGATION PRESSES TAIWAN ON BEEF 
AND PORK MARKET ACCESS 
 
TAIPEI 00002382  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. During October 17-19 meetings with a range 
of senior Taiwan officials and industry representatives, a 
USTR/USDA beef trade delegation led by USTR Special Envoy 
Ambassador Richard Crowder stressed the importance of rapid 
Taiwan action in following the science-based guidelines of 
the OIE to facilitate trade in the full range of U.S. beef 
and beef product imports, including live animals.  The 
delegation also raised the pork issue, highlighting the need 
for a ractopamine maximum residue limit (MRL) to be 
established as quickly as possible.  On beef, Taiwan 
committed to abide by OIE guidelines, but outlined a 
six-month process for an independent risk assessment that the 
Ambassador sought to compress.  On pork, the delegation was 
told that establishment of a MRL will not be possible until 
after upcoming elections (Note: most cited the January 
legislative elections while COA cited the March presidential 
election. End Note).  Ambassador Crowder pressed Taiwan to 
again show leadership regionally on beef access and called 
for greater flexibility in application of interim measures to 
permit commercially viable imports of U.S. pork until the MRL 
can be established.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) The meetings took place in Taipei on October 17-19. 
The USTR/USDA delegation was led by USTR Special Envoy 
Ambassador Richard Crowder, and included Deputy Under 
Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural 
 
SIPDIS 
Services Ellen Terpstra, USTR Director of Agricultural 
Affairs Leslie O'Connor, and USDA Office of Science and 
Technical Affairs Animal Division Deputy Director Clay 
Hamilton.  The delegation was accompanied by AIT Agriculture 
Chief, and for the meetings with the Vice Premier and the 
Minister of Economic Affairs was also joined by the Acting 
Director and the Economic Chief. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  In each of the meetings, Ambassador Crowder 
expressed appreciation for Taiwan's status as an important 
customer for U.S. agricultural products, but stressed that 
lack of a rapid resolution to outstanding beef market access 
and pork trade disputes could lead to an "explosive" U.S. 
reaction and threaten progress on the overall U.S.-Taiwan 
economic agenda.  On beef, the Ambassador emphasized he is 
carrying the same message throughout the region: Since the 
OIE classified the United States as controlled risk for BSE, 
the U.S. expects its trading partners to follow OIE 
guidelines and adopt science-based trade regimes to 
facilitate the full range of U.S. beef and beef product 
imports.  Regarding pork, the Ambassador highlighted the 
importance of coordination between the Council on Agriculture 
(COA) and the Department of Health (DOH) in lifting the ban 
on ractopamine and quickly establishing a maximum residue 
limit (MRL) for pork and other food imports containing 
ractopamine.  Although very limited U.S. ractopamine-free 
pork imports are continuing under Taiwan interim measures 
triggered by findings of ractopamine residue in U.S. pork 
entering the market, the Ambassador underscored the 
importance of using an MRL as the basis for a long-term 
solution that provides full access to the U.S. pork industry. 
 He also repeatedly stressed the importance of keeping the 
pork market open on a commercially viable basis (not just a 
technically open market) in the short term through more 
flexible interim measures applied to U.S. pork until the MRL 
is established.  He also pointed out the urgency of resolving 
both of these issues, noting that "time is not our friend." 
 
¶4. (SBU)  At the Department of Health, the delegation met 
with Deputy Minister Wang (Hsiu-Hung) joined by senior staff 
including Food Safety Bureau Director-General, David Cheng. 
After the Ambassador explained the dual purpose for his visit 
to address the beef and pork issues, the Deputy Minister 
responded that Taiwan had re-opened its market to U.S. beef 
just last year, and must follow administrative procedures in 
considering further access.  She then turned to 
Director-General Cheng, who outlined a 5-step process for the 
 
TAIPEI 00002382  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
review regarding BSE to include: conducting the risk 
assessment, undertaking a U.S. field visit, holding a 
Legislative Yuan (LY) hearing that would be open to the 
general public, continuing a series of experts committee 
meetings (the BSE Risk Advisory Committee), and as a final 
step, holding an interdepartmental meeting that includes 
participation of the COA and the Ministry of Economic Affairs 
(MOEA). 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Cheng did not specify a timeline for the entire 
process, but indicated the risk assessment to be conducted on 
four categories of beef and beef products still denied access 
would take about six months to complete.  The Ambassador 
called for a more rapid process, and Cheng indicated that 
some steps might be collapsed into or done concurrently with 
the period required to do the assessment (e.g., carrying out 
a field visit).  The Ambassador pointed out the OIE had 
already done a risk assessment, and asked Cheng whether he 
expected a gap in findings.  Cheng replied that, "Taiwan will 
follow OIE principles, but also has to follow due process" 
and stated that he expected that Taiwan's science-based risk 
assessment would be the same or similar to OIE.  The 
Ambassador stated the OIE guidelines should be followed by 
members holistically, to which the Vice Minister agreed in 
principle while emphasizing that, "Taiwan must have an 
independent assessment to convince legislators and 
consumers."  She added that Taiwan has been rated as 
"controlled risk" by the OIE "because it opened up to U.S. 
beef, even though Taiwan has no domestic BSE cases."  The 
Ambassador closed on beef by again urging DOH for a speedy 
process that would lead to full implementation of 
OIE-consistent access, i.e., all products from animals of all 
ages with appropriate specified risk materials (SRMs) 
removed. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Turning to pork, the Ambassador indicated that 
shutting down imports or failing to resume trade on a 
commercial basis would be explosive politically in the United 
States, particularly in Congress.  He indicated that moving 
quickly to establish the MRL is critical and asked whether 
DOH remains committed to doing this.  In the meanwhile, he 
said DOH appears to have greater flexibility for interpreting 
the import regulations than the course currently being taken. 
 The Vice Minister responded that DOH does not have a 
schedule for establishing the MRL, and needs the cooperation 
of COA to lift the domestic ban before this can happen.  In 
the interim, she noted that one of her staff was dispatched 
to Washington recently to discuss an improvement plan 
involving a list of U.S. exporters that can self-certify to 
meet the current standard of ractopamine-free.  The 
Ambassador expressed appreciation for these efforts, but 
reiterated the need for Taiwan to communicate a date for 
establishment of the MRL, and to show greater flexibility in 
applying its current regulations to ensure commercially 
viable import conditions prior to the MRL being established. 
He indicated that the proposed list of plants wishing to 
self-certify and ship ractopamine-free pork would not achieve 
this objective.  Cheng responded that new ideas are always 
welcome for working toward a solution, and wished to maintain 
open lines of communication on the issue.  He said that if 
ractopamine were not a banned chemical under COA authority, 
DOH would be "ready to establish the MRL tomorrow.8  The 
Ambassador expressed hope for quick action on the MRL and 
interim measures to ensure trade, saying U.S. industry and 
Congress are not patient enough for a long wait on this issue. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Responding to the Ambassador's concerns, Vice 
Premier Chiou I-jen said that beef will be politically easier 
to resolve than pork, since Taiwan has very little domestic 
beef production, and noted that Taiwan will conduct a risk 
assessment on beef imports.  Such an assessment should take 
place on an accelerated timeline, stressed the Ambassador, 
and should follow a holistic approach consistent with the OIE 
 
TAIPEI 00002382  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
guidelines, rather than a line-by-line mechanism that would 
slow the process.  Chiou observed that many members of the 
previous BSE Risk Advisory Committee (RAC) had resigned after 
the previous reviews, and it has taken time to re-invite them 
to configure the new panel.  He agreed to urge the DOH to set 
up the beef review committee as quickly as possible.  (Note: 
The RAC has already been established, but has not yet 
launched formal discussion on the U.S. case. End Note).  The 
Vice Premier cautioned that Taiwan's many small 
pork-producing farmers are a potent political force, and said 
it was "highly possible" that an MRL could not be set until 
after the January 12 legislative election.  The process on 
pork is tougher, observed Chiou, as farmers have reacted very 
negatively on the issue.  COA Chairman Su's outreach efforts 
met a further backlash, but the strength of reaction is 
slowly ratcheting down.  Reiterating the importance of fast 
progress, the Ambassador urged a flexible interpretation of 
Taiwan import measures that would allow commercially viable 
U.S. pork imports in the interim.  The Ambassador also 
stressed that the market needed to be open to all U.S. 
companies, not just specialized farmers.  Chiou mentioned 
that the COA is trying to persuade pork farmers to follow the 
"Japan model", in which an MRL for imports is established 
while domestic use of ractopamine is still prohibited.  AIT 
A/DIR encouraged Taiwan to play a leadership role by becoming 
the first economy in the region to move to full access for 
U.S. beef and beef products, along with fixing the pork issue 
quickly.  President Chen is aware of U.S. interest and the 
importance of resolving the beef and pork issues, concluded 
Chiou. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen 
(Ruey-long), accompanied by Chief Trade Negotiator John Deng 
and a range of senior Ministry officials, observed that 
Taiwan remains one of Asia's biggest importer of U.S. 
agricultural products, and wants to maintain good trade 
relations with the U.S.  Since Taiwan has virtually no 
domestic beef industry, he explained, "there will be no 
excuse for protection of local industry" in opening the 
market to bone-in beef imports.  Chen said he will encourage 
his DOH and COA counterparts to address the beef issue in 
accordance with WTO, and science-based guidelines.  He 
observed that DOH, in particular, is wary of criticisum from 
the legislature and remains cautious.  MOEA, however, 
"supports opening the market" and "sees no reason to further 
delay decision-making," stated Chen.  He asked the U.S. to 
provide Taiwan with information on how others in Asia, 
especially Korea, are handling the beef problem.  Noting 
Korea's pending FTA with the U.S., Chen asserted that Taiwan 
will be in a better position to facilitate expanded beef and 
beef product imports if Korea does the same, but will not 
necessarily wait for Korea until taking action on its own. 
Congress will not approve the Korean FTA unless the beef 
problem is fully resolved first, said the Ambassador. 
 
¶9. (SBU)  According to Chen, extensive media coverage has 
made pork a more difficult problem to resolve than beef. If 
the authorities lift the current ban, he asserted, there will 
be a dramatic negative reaction from industry and consumers. 
Given political sensitivities, Chen said Taiwan needs more 
time to build an internal consensus on how best to establish 
a ractopamine MRL.  In reply, the Ambassador reiterated the 
importance of moving quickly and reaching a commercially 
viable solution in the interim.  Failure to resolve the beef 
and pork problems could affect the broader U.S.-Taiwan trade 
relationship, he added.  Chen replied that Taiwan always does 
its best to accommodate U.S. requests, but noted a "sense of 
frustration" that past efforts have not always been 
recognized by the U.S.  Taiwan, he maintained, has made 
significant progress in improving IPR protection, but remains 
on the U.S. IPR watch list.  Taiwan is very eager to 
negotiate an FTA with the U.S., he continued, but its 
requests have not met with success.  A/DIR emphasized the 
 
TAIPEI 00002382  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
importance of avoiding disruptions in pork trade while Taiwan 
devises an MRL.  "We will make maximum efforts to avoid trade 
disruption," answered Chen. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Taiwan National Security Council (NSC) Advisor 
Connie Yang (Guang-hwa) said the beef import problem would be 
easier politically to solve than pork, since Taiwan has very 
little beef production and domestic political actors are so 
focused on pork, a situation exacerbated by plans to reduce 
the size of the LY in the next election.  She cautioned, 
however, that due to the impending election season, both 
sides should "keep a low profile" as they work on a solution 
for beef imports.  On pork, Yang said the administration told 
DOH to interpret current pork import regulations as flexibly 
as possible so that some imports could continue, but stressed 
that there would be no progress toward resolution on the MRL 
until after the elections.  (Note: all interlocutors focused 
on the January 2008 legislative elections, while COA 
mentioned the March Presidential election. End Note). 
Ambassador Crowder again emphasized that the U.S. expects its 
trading partners to follow OIE guidelines on BSE and adopt 
science-based trade policies, and also reiterated that 
foot-dragging on the beef and pork disputes is politically 
unacceptable in Washington.  He added that if import problems 
aren't resolved quickly, it would negatively affect the 
bilateral trade agenda and "will be difficult to keep the lid 
on" negative reaction in the U.S.  He concluded by saying the 
beef issue is an opportunity for Taiwan to show leadership. 
Yang replied that "there was a big cost last time for being 
the frontrunner, when Japan and Korea didn't move ahead 
similarly." 
 
¶11. (SBU)  The delegation met with local representatives of 
the meat trade (including importers and U.S. suppliers) at 
AIT,s Agricultural Trade Office.  After providing a brief 
introduction on the purpose of the mission, Ambassador 
Crowder engaged the attendees in a one-hour question and 
answer session to discuss the impact of these issues for beef 
and pork trade with Taiwan.  A quick stocktaking revealed 
that very little U.S. pork is now being imported other than 
"natural" product and limited shipments from another U.S. 
supplier not present at the meeting.  One attendee noted 
Canadian pork has suffered less impact and wondered why there 
have been no positive findings of ractopamine in Canadian 
muscle cuts (note: there has been a case of detection in 
Canadian pork offal).  On beef, those attending expressed 
strong support and appreciation for efforts to resume full 
trade.  The representative of one major U.S. packer estimated 
this would increase their sales by 40 percent in Taiwan. 
 
¶12. (SBU)  In addition to the discussion with traders, 
representatives of the U.S. producer of Paylean (the brand 
name of the ractopamine hog feed ingredient) also attended 
and offered insights on their unsuccessful efforts to date 
gaining approval for the product in Taiwan.  They also 
briefed the delegation on the negative public relations and 
confusion this issue has sown regarding the documented safety 
of Paylean vs. other feed additives (beta-agonists) on the 
COA,s ban list that are considered truly dangerous (e.g., 
clenbuterol).  They also expressed a view that Taiwan has 
misapplied its testing regime for ractopamine by using an 
overly sensitive detection limit.  As a result, the testing 
program overseen by DOH is out-of-sync with the company,s 
own published methodology for the product and stricter than 
the limits employed in other countries, including Japan and 
the United States. 
 
¶13. (SBU)  Council of Agriculture (COA) Vice Minister Lee 
(Jen-Chyuan), joined by senior officials including Dr. Watson 
Sung of the Bureau of Animal, Plant, Health Inspection & 
Quarantine (BAPHIQ), opened the meeting by stating "relations 
in agriculture are better than 2-3 years ago."  He also 
expressed hope that when launched, the Consultative Committee 
 
TAIPEI 00002382  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
on Agriculture (CCA) would allow the two sides to handle many 
issues.  Ambassador Crowder agreed and commended the 
excellent overall agricultural trading relationship and 
market we enjoy in Taiwan.  He proceeded to outline the 
purpose of the delegation,s visit to six Asian markets as a 
mission "intended to deliver a clear, consistent message on 
the need for OIE-consistent beef trade."  He expressed 
appreciation for Taiwan,s early leadership regionally on 
reopening to U.S. boneless beef from animals less than 30 
months of age, but said the current status of beef and pork 
market access issues with Taiwan is "becoming a drag on 
overall relations."  With the pork trade basically shut down, 
the Ambassador urged Taiwan to establish the MRL quickly 
while finding an interim solution that allows our exports to 
resume "on a commercial not technical basis."  He stated 
recognition that the issue involves the jurisdictions of both 
COA and DOH, and that the solution had become entangled in 
political considerations with upcoming elections in January 
and/or March (depending on speaker), but warned that "time is 
not our friend" given the explosive reaction being provoked 
in the United States.  The Ambassador stated with emphasis 
that U.S. trade access is caught up in finger pointing 
between DOH and COA on who is responsible for the current 
issue. 
 
¶14. (SBU)  In response to the Ambassador,s points, the Vice 
Minister stated that as a member of OIE, Taiwan would honor 
its guidelines.  He noted that Taiwan had shown goodwill with 
its early resumption in 2005-06, and reiterated they would 
follow the OIE.  Dr. Sung echoed this point and said COA is 
only responsible for "beef-related products other than beef." 
 He assured the Ambassador that pending U.S. requests on 
certain beef-related products already deemed "safe to trade" 
by the OIE, such as protein-free tallow, would be discussed 
at the upcoming sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) bilaterals 
in November and "should be resolved."  The Ambassador noted 
that the long process for achieving OIE consistency on these 
products combined with the process described by DOH on beef 
"is not helping."  He asked how best the overall review can 
be handled across the two organizations.  The Vice Minister 
responded that "COA cannot commit on a timeline," given the 
split responsibility with DOH, which controls the decision 
for many beef and beef product imports.  The Ambassador asked 
whether COA would be supportive in the interagency process on 
following OIE for beef, to which the Vice Minister replied, 
"yes." 
 
¶15. (SBU)  On pork, the Vice Minister was far less 
forthcoming, stating the issue "has extremely high political 
sensitivity, having become wrapped up in the campaign for the 
presidency."  He also noted that protests by farmers had 
forced the DOH Minister to sign a pledge not to act 
unilaterally in establishing an MRL as long as ractopamine 
remains banned for use domestically by COA.  As a result, 
according to the Vice Minister, "while a parallel system of 
establishing an MRL for imports only is possible 
theoretically, it is not possible politically."  The 
Ambassador asked how best to facilitate COA and DOH agreement 
on setting an MRL, and then further stated that the U.S. 
cannot abide having such a trade disruption when there is no 
rationale for banning ractopamine at the same time Codex has 
advanced an international MRL to the final step of its 
process. 
 
¶16. (SBU)  The Vice Minister responded that he had asked his 
staff to check on the international status of ractopamine and 
found several cases of other economies with a policy similar 
to what Taiwan had originally proposed.  (Note: BAPHIQ's Sung 
mentioned the EU, Japan, and New Zealand in this regard 
without providing further details on how their policies 
compared to Taiwan's situation.  End Note.)  The Vice 
Minister added that Taiwan had not suspended U.S. pork 
imports despite several detection cases.  The Ambassador 
 
TAIPEI 00002382  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
responded that the market is only technically open, and the 
situation has to be resolved before Congress takes action. 
Furthermore, from the standpoint of our WTO relations, 
Taiwan,s stance cannot be considered scientific, but rather 
seems a policy to handle an election.  The Vice Minister 
stated the issue was &beyond his ability,8 but agreed to 
carry the Ambassador,s message forward. 
 
¶17. (SBU) COMMENT.  We believe the visit fully achieved its 
primary objective of conveying to key Taiwan officials the 
need for moving to OIE-consistent access for the full range 
of U.S. beef and beef products as expeditiously as possible. 
Discussions with DOH, in particular, should serve to 
invigorate and hopefully compress the review period.  The 
meeting with the Vice Premier and NSC Senior Advisor revealed 
that the process has languished in part due to fallout among 
committee members from the tough political environment 
surrounding previous reviews that led to reopening for 
boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age ahead of 
other markets in the region.  While it may be more difficult 
to secure similar leadership this time, Taiwan officials 
consistently stated a commitment to following the OIE 
guidelines and providing for a transparent process. 
 
¶18.  (SBU)  Resolution of the pork issue, while simpler 
procedurally, looks far more difficult politically.  We did 
not detect any movement on the key obstacle for establishing 
the MRL: overcoming resistance from farmers and legislators 
to lifting the domestic ractopamine ban in the midst of a 
tough election season.  Ambassador Crowder pointed out in all 
meetings that he is big on follow-up, and that given the 
sense of urgency on these issues, the delegation and AIT will 
be following up quickly and vigorously to explore ways of 
restoring commercially viable conditions for pork trade (as 
an interim step until an MRL is established) within the 
context of discussions already underway with DOH to provide 
an "improvement plan."  END COMMENT. 
 
¶19. (U) This message was reviewed by Ambassador Crowder, 
Under Secretary Terpstra, and delegation after departing 
Taiwan. 
YOUNG