US Beef Will Not Be Served at MND
TAIWAN - US beef and beef products are not expected to appear on tables at the nation's military bases, at least not before the end of 2010, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has said.
27 October 2009
2 minute read
The MND recently signed contracts with suppliers of frozen beef from Australia and New Zealand and those contracts will not expire until the end of 2010, an MND spokesman, Yu Sy-tue told Taiwan News.
"It means that the MND will not buy US beef during that period," said Mr Sy-tue.
The MND will continue to pay attention to the origin of meat products that are served at military bases, which have a combined population of over 200,000 people, and will also carry out random inspection of meat products in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and other relevant government agencies, he added.
Meanwhile, Yang Chiu-hsing, magistrate of the southern county of Kaohsiung, issued a directive Tuesday for the exclusion of US ground beef and offal from meals at the county's schools. The order came on the heels of a recent decision by the central government to allow the importation of US bone-in beef, offal, ground beef and spinal cords with effect from next month.
Mr Chiu-hsing also instructed Kaohsiung county government officials to make sure that beef and beef products in restaurants and supermarket chain stores in Kaohsiung County are properly labeled to show the country of origin. Mr Chiu-hsing dissuaded Kaohsiung residents from consuming US bone-in beef, ground beef and offal, saying this is a health precaution.
The Cabinet-level Department of Health (DOH) announced 23 October that Taiwan would expand market access for US beef, after officials of the two countries clinched a protocol the previous day in Washington, D.C. to lift a partial ban on US beef imports.
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