TIFA TALKS TO BE DELAYED OVER US BEEF DISPUTE

A dispute over U.S. beef may further delay talks on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, or TIFA, between Taiwan and the U.S.

Foreign Affairs Minister Timothy Yang explained on Monday that the U.S. has urged Taiwan to specify the maximum residue limits for meat-leaning additives in imported beef, as a precondition for resuming TIFA negotiations. But the Executive Yuan insists on a complete ban on the chemical due to public health concerns.

The US has decided to postpone a trade meeting with Taiwan after traces of lean-meat agents were found in U.S. beef products imported to Taiwan.

The two sides were positive about the resumption of TIFA talks but now the progress has been delayed.

The US has urged Taiwan to set an MRL of the animal drug ractopamine allowable in meat before it would resume the negotiation rounds.

But according to the current law of Taiwan, such chemical is banned in meat products.

When receiving Dan Burton, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia of the United States, foreign minister Yang mentions his wish to quickly resolve the dispute over the U.S. beef and resume the TIFA talk, adding that since it's an economic issue, it would be best to solve it under the TIFA framework.

Yang admits the difficulty of resuming the TIFA talks before the dispute is over and it takes times and patience to communicate with the United States.

So far, the Executive Yuan has formed a task force to study the MRL standards in the chemical substance in different countries.

The issue of ractopamine is holding onto the timing of TIFA talks and presents another challenge to the Taiwan-US trade relations.

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