2009-11-27 | Facts about U.S. Beef and the Taiwan Market
Facts about U.S. Beef and the Taiwan Market
OT-0927E | Date: 11/27/2009
- U.S. beef and beef products from animals of any age, including offals and ground beef, are safe.
- The United States is the world's largest producer of beef and beef products.
- The United States is also the world's largest consumer of beef. Every day, tens of millions of U.S. consumers eat the very same beef and beef products that are exported to Taiwan, and to every other market to which the U.S. exports beef and beef products.
- The United States has the same food safety inspection system for all beef and beef products produced in the United States, regardless of where - domestically or internationally - these products are sold.
- The United States is currently Taiwan's largest supplier of beef in terms of market value.
- Taiwan's market has been reopened to deboned U.S. beef since early 2006. In 2008, the U.S. exported over U.S. $128 million (about four billion NTD) worth of U.S. beef to Taiwan.
- With its May 2007 ruling on the United States' BSE status, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recognized that the United States has all the appropriate risk control measures in place, and has met the slaughter and beef processing conditions, that assure that all U.S. beef and beef products, from animals of all ages, are completely safe and can be safely traded.
- Taiwan and the United States are both OIE members. As WTO members, Taiwan and the United States both recognize the OIE as the official standard-setting body for animal health.
- There are between 94 and 100 million cattle in the United States. There have been no known cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE - colloquially known as "Mad Cow Disease") in any U.S. cow born after 1997.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been monitoring U.S. cattle for BSE since 1990, and the current testing rate is 10 times the standard rate established by the OIE.
- There have been no cases of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans conclusively linked to the consumption of U.S. beef.
- Following the May 2007 OIE ruling on the United States' BSE status, the United States requested expanded access to Taiwan's beef and beef products market. The United States and Taiwan then engaged in lengthy and serious negotiations during which each side made great efforts to address the substantive concerns of the other with the shared goal of reaching a high-standard bilateral protocol that is based on science and is consistent with OIE guidelines and our international obligations as members of the WTO. The final rounds of these negotiations, which lasted for nearly six months, resulted in the October 22 protocol.
U.S. beef and beef products from animals of any age,
including offals and ground beef, are safe.
All U.S. beef and beef products are produced in compliance with U.S. law, including numerous interlocking Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) control measures.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) gave the United States its "controlled risk" classification in May 2007 only after a team of the world's most renowned BSE experts reviewed the preventive and food-safety measures in place in the United States. This classification reaffirmed the efficacy of the U.S. government's interlocking system of controls to protect the food supply from BSE and that it provides a level of security recognized worldwide as appropriate. Accordingly, there is no scientific justification for any restrictions that are inconsistent with OIE guidelines that would limit market access for U.S. beef and beef products. A growing number of U.S. trading partners in all regions, now totaling over 60 countries, have recognized the safety of U.S. beef and beef products and currently import all available products regardless of age.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented an OIE consistent feed ban in 1997, which prohibited the feeding of ruminant products to ruminants. The feed ban, which FDA further strengthened in 2009, is one of the United States' primary animal health protective measures. To further ensure that BSE does not pose a food safety risk in the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducts carcass-by-carcass inspections. Every day, USDA inspection personnel verify that slaughterhouses maintain proper sanitation procedures and comply with all U.S. regulations pertaining to slaughter and processing operations.
With regard to BSE, all livestock slaughter and processing establishments must maintain procedures for removing, segregating, and disposing of Specified Risk Materials (SRMs), so they do not enter the human food supply. From a human health perspective, this is the single most significant measure in ensuring the production of safe beef and beef products. All parts of cattle not designated as SRMs by the OIE are considered safe for human consumption whether or not there is significant market demand for the products.
The United States is the world's largest producer of beef and beef products.
In 2008, the United States produced over 11.8 million metric tons of beef. That year, the United States exported roughly 785,000 metric tons of beef, valued at over US$3.6 billion, to over 100 markets worldwide. In 2008, roughly 6.6 percent of U.S. beef and beef products were exported, and U.S. consumers purchased the remainder.
The United States is also the world's largest consumer of beef. Every day, tens of millions of U.S. consumers eat the very same beef and beef products that are exported to Taiwan, and to every other market to which the U.S. exports beef and beef products.
In 2008, the United States consumed over 12.3 million metric tons of beef.
The United States has the same food safety inspection system for all beef and beef products produced in the United States, regardless of where - domestically or internationally - these products are sold.
Only products produced in U.S. federally-inspected slaughter and processing establishments may be sold outside the U.S. state in which they were produced, whether for consumption throughout the United States or the world. USDA inspection personnel must be present at the federally-inspected establishment in order for that establishment to conduct slaughter operations.
The United States is currently Taiwan's largest supplier of beef in terms of market value.
In 2008, the value of Taiwan's entire beef market was US$360 million (approx. 11.6 billion NTD). 38 percent of that figure was spent on U.S. deboned beef, making the United States Taiwan's largest beef supplier in terms of market value.
Taiwan's market has been reopened to deboned U.S. beef since early 2006. In 2008, the U.S. exported over U.S. $128 million (about four billion NTD) worth of U.S. beef to Taiwan.
In 2008, Taiwan was the United States' sixth largest beef and beef products export market after Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
Many markets, including Taiwan, suspended the import of all U.S. beef and beef products following a 2003 detection of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in an imported cow in the United States. In 2005, Taiwan resumed imports of U.S. deboned beef from animals less than 30 months of age after scientific reviews conducted by Taiwan's Department of Health and its Risk Advisory Committee determined these products posed no safety concern. After a brief market closure following a second detection of a BSE case in 2005 in the United States, Taiwan resumed imports of this class of products in early 2006.
With its May 2007 ruling on the United States' BSE status, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recognized that the United States has all the appropriate risk control measures in place, and has met the slaughter and beef processing conditions, that assure that all U.S. beef and beef products, from animals of all ages, are completely safe and can be safely traded.
In May 2007, the OIE classified the United States as "controlled risk" for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). This "controlled risk" classification by the OIE recognizes that trade in U.S. beef and beef products from animals of all ages is completely safe provided that certain slaughter and beef processing conditions are met. In other words, the OIE determined that the United States has appropriate safeguards against BSE, enabling the safe trade of American beef and beef products from animals of any age, provided the designated specified risk materials (SRMs) appropriate for a "controlled risk" country are removed. More information is available on OIE's website.
Taiwan and the United States are both OIE members. As WTO members, Taiwan and the United States both recognize the OIE as the official standard-setting body for animal health.
The OIE is recognized as the official standard-setting body for animal health under the World Trade Organization (WTO) "Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures" (SPS Agreement). The WTO recognizes the OIE in this manner because of the acknowledged scientific basis of the OIE guidelines. Both Taiwan and the United States are active members of the OIE and participate in the development of the OIE guidelines.
There are between 94 and 100 million cattle in the United States. There have been no known cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE - colloquially known as "Mad Cow Disease") in any U.S. cow born after 1997.
BSE is a transmissible neurodegenerative disease of adult cattle that global surveillance data indicate is disappearing from the world's cattle herds from peak levels due to stricter control measures on animal feeding practices. The peak in global reported cases of BSE occurred in 1992 at 37,316 reported cases for that year alone (OIE website).
In 2008, there were 125 reported cases of BSE worldwide, 120 of them in Europe (OIE website). Thus far in 2009, there have only been 31 reported cases of BSE worldwide, all but two in Europe (OIE website as of December 18, 2009).
As stated earlier in this document, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented an OIE-consistent feed ban in 1997, which prohibited the feeding of ruminant products to ruminants. The feed ban, which FDA further strengthened in 2009, is one of the United States' primary animal health protective measures.
In December 2003, the United States reported its first case of BSE in an imported animal from Canada.The United States has had two subsequent confirmed domestic BSE cases, the last one being in 2006. Both the two U.S. domestic cases (as well as the imported Canadian animal) were born before the 1997 implementation of the FDA feed ban (Canada implemented a feed ban at about the same time.)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been monitoring U.S. cattle for BSE since 1990, and the current testing rate is 10 times the standard rate established by the OIE.
Since 1990, USDA has been monitoring classes of cattle known to be of higher risk for BSE. The current U.S. testing rate is 10 times the standard rate established by the OIE.
There have been no cases of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans conclusively linked to the consumption of U.S. beef.
There is some evidence linking human consumption of beef tainted with the BSE disease agent, the prion, to the development of the Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). Since vCJD was first reported in Europe in 1996, approximately 200 patients with this disease were diagnosed worldwide.
Of the three cases of vCJD identified in the United States, there is strong evidence that two of the three patients were exposed to the BSE agent in the United Kingdom prior to their coming to the United States and the third was exposed while living in Saudi Arabia.
None of these cases are believed to have been exposed to BSE while in the United States or from eating U.S. beef or beef products.
Following the May 2007 OIE ruling on the United States' BSE status, the United States requested expanded access to Taiwan's beef and beef products market. The United States and Taiwan then engaged in lengthy and serious negotiations during which each side made great efforts to address the substantive concerns of the other with the shared goal of reaching a high-standard bilateral protocol that is based on science and is consistent with OIE guidelines and our international obligations as members of the WTO. The final rounds of these negotiations, which lasted for nearly six months, resulted in the October 22 protocol.
As a temporary measure to allow for a smooth transition to the expansion of available products, the U.S. industry agreed to voluntarily restrain exports of beef and beef products from cattle over 30 months of age. As a result, the expanded market access for U.S. beef announced by Taiwan is fundamentally the same as that announced and implemented by South Korea in 2008.
Link to Taiwan Department of Health Risk Assessment of U.S. Bone-in Beef
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