VZCZCXRO1414
PP RUEHAST RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM
RUEHVC
DE RUEHIN #1548 3080924
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 030924Z NOV 08
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0242
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS TAIPEI 001548 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER, BHAT AND ABDOO; FDA/CFSAN BREWER, 
SUBERA-WIGGIN, WOO AND FDA/OIP J. HO USDA FOR FAS/OSTA 
MACKE, LOWER; FAS/OCRA RADLER, BEILLARD, 
USTR FOR WINELAND AND STRATFORD 
USDOC FOR 3132/USFCS/OIO/EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO ECON SOCI KSCA ETRD TW CH
SUBJECT: FOOD SAFETY ASSUMES IMPORTANT ROLE IN CROSS-STRAIT 
TALKS 
 
REF: A. BEIJING 4085 
     ¶B. TAIPEI 1490 
     ¶C. TAIPEI 1484 
 
 ¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY. In advance of his November 3-7 visit to 
Taipei, the PRC's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan 
Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin made an October 27 
written apology (ref a) and an October 30 verbal apology for 
the distress caused by exports of Chinese-manufactured 
tainted milk products to Taiwan (ref b).  The apologies are 
likely to help ease public tensions during Chen's talks with 
his Taiwan counterpart, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) 
Chairman Chiang Ping-kun in Taipei this week.  The SEF-ARATS 
talks are expected to conclude agreements on food safety, in 
addition to cross-Strait air/sea links and direct postal 
service (ref c).  In the wake of the melamine scare, the food 
safety agreement will be a major focus of public attention in 
Taiwan as it is slated to touch on compensation for melamine 
victims and Taiwan's plans to set up a food inspection office 
in the PRC. END SUMMARY 
 
CALMING PUBLIC TENSIONS 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  In late September, after the PRC notified Taiwan 
that a 25-ton shipment of milk powder already on the Taiwan 
market contained traces of the industrial chemical melamine, 
the Department of Health (DOH) banned all dairy-content food 
imports from the PRC and now requires that all dairy products 
on the market undergo stringent "non-detectable" (0.05) ppm 
melamine tests.  In addition, it announced that selected 
categories of dairy-based products from all countries would 
be subject to the non-detectable melamine test report 
requirements. Chen Yunlin made a written apology to Taiwan on 
the melamine issue October 27, and followed it with a verbal 
apology on the 30th. His apologies were aimed at defusing 
some of the ill-feeling generated from the melamine scandal. 
The melamine scare resulted in the resignation of 
then-Minister of Health Lin Fang-yue, and the DOH changing 
its melamine standard from 0.05 ppm to 2.5 ppm and back to 
0.05 ppm, causing widespread discontent among local 
businesses, who are seeking compensation for losses, and 
foreign suppliers, who are balking at the high cost of 
meeting a 0.05 ppm tolerance on their products.  President Ma 
Ying-jeou seems to have alluded to Chen's apologies when he 
recently told the media that Chen would not ignore the 
melamine issue during his visit to Taipei. 
 
FOOD SAFETY AGREEMENTS 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)   According to the Department of Health, Taiwan 
aims to attain the following objectives through the food 
safety agreement: stopping the illegal adulteration of food, 
establishing a food inspection office in the PRC, and setting 
up a compensation policy for Taiwan consumers who ingested 
the tainted milk products.  Department of Health contacts 
told us that the intended food inspection office will follow 
the guidelines of the U.S.-China Agreement on Food Safety 
signed in December 2007, and will allow Taiwan 
representatives to inspect food products before their export 
to Taiwan.  The prospective agreement will also adopt the 
international Codex Alimentarius food safety inspection 
mechanism, recognized by 170 members worldwide.  Following 
the melamine incident, both sides have set up contact points 
to exchange information on tainted food, and have been 
exchanging information since October 6. 
SYOUNG