Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/01
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, Oct. 1 (CNA) Deputy United States Trade Representative Robert Holleyman said Thursday that the issue of U.S. beef and pork imports to Taiwan has complicated the ongoing discussions about a bilateral investment agreement (BIA).

One of the persistent questions from U.S. legislators is “how good of a job have our trading partners done in living up to their past trade commitments,” Holleyman said, pointing out that any bilateral investment agreement would have to get past the U.S. Congress.

“So the challenges around beef and pork do complicate the ongoing discussion about a bilateral investment agreement,” he said at a press conference after the latest round of trade talks between Taiwan and the U.S. under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in Taipei.

Although the issue of U.S. pork imports was not on the agenda of the TIFA meeting, the U.S. delegation, led by Holleyman, mentioned that the two sides still have work to do to ensure that Taiwan’s food safety regulations are based on science and are consistent with international standards, according to Cho Shih-chao (卓士昭), Taiwan’s deputy economics minister.     [FULL  STORY]