SINGAPORE CONTINUES TO DRAG FEET ON U.S. BEEF IMPORTS

UNCLAS SINGAPORE 000712 STATE PASS USTR SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD EAGR SN SUBJECT: SINGAPORE CONTINUES TO DRAG FEET ON U.S. BEEF IMPORTS REF: A) 08 SINGAPORE 1168; B) 08 SINGAPORE 560 ¶1. (SBU) Despite suggestions of a willingness to revisit the issue of opening Singapore's markets to imports of U.S. bone-in beef, the GoS has made no progress on a long-promised risk assessment of beef imports. On the sidelines of a separate meeting, Dr. Astrid Yeo, Deputy Director of the Import & Export Division of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA),suggested to EconOff that the GoS is open to discussing changes to its policy on imports of U.S. bone-in beef. However, Yeo said any change in policy toward U.S. beef would ultimately affect the GoS position toward other beef exporting nations, and therefore the GOS must first complete a total risk assessment of all nations (Ref A and B). At an October 2008 review of the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, GOS officials had promised to provide a timeline for completion of this assessment, but Dr. Yeo was unable to provide any further indication of when it would be completed. She noted that FDA regulations banning the use of ruminant materials that recently went into effect had been a helpful development. ¶2. (SBU) A lack of scientific literature is ONE reason that the risk assessment has yet to be completed, according to Dr. Teng Moey Fah, Deputy Director of Animal HEALTH within AVA's Regulatory & Health Planning Division. Teng suggested that any new scientific literature that the USG could provide may help to further the risk assessment along. 3.(SBU) Dr. Teng also noted that Singapore has a six-year "BSE Free" policy, wherein countries that have not had a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in six years will not face restrictions on imports of beef (bone-in or otherwise). The policy was implemented circa January 2006 when the AVA began softening its ban on de-boned beef from some affected countries. The last case of BSE in the United States was in 2006 in Alabama; therefore, Singapore's ban on U.S. bone-in beef would remain until 2012 absent any further progress on the issue. SHIELDS