TAIWAN CONSIDERS LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENT TO RESTRICT

C O N F I D E N T I A L AIT TAIPEI 001292


STATE FOR EAP/TC
STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD AND ALTBACH, TREASURY FOR
OASIA/WINSHIP AND PISA, NSC FOR LOI, COMMERCE FOR
4431/ITA/MAC/AP/OPB/TAIWAN,USDA FOR FAS/OSTA BLUM, BEAN,
AND DAWSON; FAS/OCRA RADLER, BURDETT, AND POOL; FAS/OFSO
SALLYARDS; APHIS/IS AND VS; AND FSIS/HARRIES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2019
TAGS: ECON EAGR ETRD PGOV PREL TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN CONSIDERS LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENT TO RESTRICT
SOME U.S. BEEF IMPORTS

REF: TAIPEI 1285 AND PREVIOUS


Classified By: Bill Stanton, AIT Director, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

1. (C) SUMMARY: In the wake of yesterday's official
promulgation of enhanced import measures under the
U.S.-Taiwan beef protocol (reftel),KMT and DPP legislators
agreed in principle to amend the Food Sanitation Act in a way
that could restrict some U.S. beef imports. Although details
are still unclear, the proposed legislation, to take effect
after November 17, would restrict imports of beef offal,
ground beef, spinal cord, and other controversial beef
products. A senior legislator assured AIT that the
legislation would ultimately not affect U.S. beef imports,
and there are some indications that it might apply only to
countries with cases of BSE. Media coverage focused on
factual coverage of the November 2 promulgation of new import
measures, as well as debate over calls for a public
referendum on beef safety. Taipei municipality moved ahead
with new food labeling requirements to include beef, while
Taichung opted for a less stringent voluntary program. END
SUMMARY.

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LY Drafts Restrictive Beef Import Law
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2. (C) According to the offices of six Legislative Yuan (LY)
members representing the KMT and DPP, caucus leaders from
both parties today agreed to vote on a draft amendment to the
Food Sanitation Act before November 17. Although different
legislators and STAFF members offered varying accounts of the
draft amendment, it appeared designed to restrict imports of
beef offal, ground beef, spinal cord, and other beef products
whose safety is doubted by the Taiwan public. The amendment
would reportedly apply to all beef imports, although one LY
staff member told us that it would only affect countries in
which there are active cases of BSE.

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KMT Legislators Offer Assurances
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3. (C) NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (NSC) Secretary General Su
Chi contacted the Director to express Ma administration
concern about the draft amendment, which Su said the DPP had
forced KMT legislators to accept by means of a threat to
block the December 5 elections. KMT legislator Huang Yi-jiau
disagreed, however, telling poloff that the DPP amendment was
substantively identical to one he had proposed. KMT
legislator Lin Yu-fang assured Pol Chief that the amended
Food Sanitation legislation would be crafted so that it did
not cover beef imports from the U.S. His comments were
echoed by a STAFF member from the office of KMT Whip Lin
Yi-shih, who asserted that the LY would not ask the
administration to ban U.S. beef imports in violation of the
bilateral protocol. Lin Yu-fang agreed to raise U.S.
concerns with LY Speaker Wang Jin-pyng and keep AIT posted of
any developments.

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DPP Seizes on the Beef Issue
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4. (C) Ho Pei-san, a DPP STAFF member in the LY, noted that
DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen planned to ally the DPP with NGOs in
calling for a public referendum on beef safety. Ho described
the beef controversy as a "gift from heaven" for the DPP in
the run-up to the December 5 local elections.

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Media Coverage Continues
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5. (SBU) The Taiwan media continued to provide extensive
coverage of the beef issue. There were two beef editorials
on November 2. The low-circulation, English-language Taipei
Times was critical of a referendum on beef safety proposed by
the Consumer Foundation NGO, noting that the Foundation
lacked the scientific data to pursue such an initiative. An
editorial in the Liberty Times, the Taipei Times' more
widely-read Chinese-language sibling, was supportive of the
referendum proposal. Various media also carried factual
reports about the November 2 press conference held by
Minister of Health Yaung (reftel).

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Cities Adopt Various Labeling Measures
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6. (SBU) A Taipei municipal official told us that the city
had asked 15,000 retail food vendors to provide source-of-
origin labels for beef and other food products. Taipei
health authorities would begin inspections from November 9,
and retailers who did not use source of origin labels and
then failed to correct the problem would be liable for fines
of between NT $20,000 (US $625) and NT $100,000 (US $3,125).
A health official in Taichung, Taiwan's third-largest city,
reported that the municipality was encouraging all beef
vendors to provide source-of-origin labels. There were no
punitive measures, however, for vendors who failed to provide
source-of-origin information.


7. (C) COMMENT: The beef issue has become increasingly
politicized in Taiwan's political hothouse, and both the
nature and status of the proposed beef amendment remain
fluid. We will continue to urge both sides of the aisle to
implement the protocol as agreed, and to avoid undermining
Taiwan's negotiating credibility through relentless
politicization of the beef issue. In the meantime, we are
bracing for potential fallout from the November 2 Washington
Post report that two U.S. deaths may have been attributable
to e coli in ground beef. Via e-mail, we will provide
Washington agencies with a translation and initial comments
on the Department of Health's November 2 beef import
quarantine and inspection management rules. END COMMENT.


STANTON