Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/16/2020
By:  Hau Hsueh-ching and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) The de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan on Wednesday sought to assure the public that all U.S. food exports to the country are safe to eat amid concerns raised by Taichung City's mayor over the central government's decision to lift a ban on imports of American pork containing residues of a controversial veterinary drug next year.

"All U.S. exports to Taiwan and our other trade partners are safe and meet the same high, evidence-based standards that we follow for our own consumption in the United States. Safe here. Safe there. Safe everywhere," Amanda Mansour, spokeswoman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) told CNA.

The spokeswoman's comments were made after Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), in a meeting with AIT Director Brent Christensen earlier in the day, raised concerns about the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's decision to soon allow imports of pork containing ractopamine, a leanness-enhancing drug.

AIT represents U.S. interest in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
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