US BEEF SET TO RE-ENTER TAIWAN SOON: USDA OFFICIAL.

WASHINGTON, Feb 1 Asia Pulse - Taiwan is expected to announce in about a month the results of its inspections that mark the final stage in allowing U.S. beef back on the local market following the suspension of imports in 2003 due to the discovery of a case of mad cow disease, an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Sunday.

Taiwan suspended beef imports from the United States in December 2003 due to safety concerns over bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, after the discovery in the U.S. state of Washington of a single BSE-infected case at a cattle ranch.

According to the USDA official, who asked not to be identified, Taiwan health and agriculture officials have traveled to the United States to conduct on-site inspections of the implementation of the U.S. safeguards against mad cow disease.

The Taiwan officials have completed the reviews necessary for resuming the beef trade, the USDA official said, adding that officials from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) have also been contacting relevant Taiwan officials in an effort to speed up the paperwork so that U.S. beef can reenter the Taiwan market at an earlier date.

AIT is a quasi-official organization authorized by Washington to handle U.S. exchanges with Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries.

USDA officials are now more reserved and low-key over the re-entry issue than before after Taiwan ...