Audio: Beef Exports to Taiwan Rebound Nicely; Efforts Continue on Pork
Published: May 07, 2013
00:00 / 00:00
You may download the audio file here
When first-quarter results for U.S. meat exports were released last week, the rebound in beef shipments to Taiwan emerged as one of the clear bright spots.
Meat exports to Taiwan suffered a significant setback in late 2011 and much of last year due to changes in Taiwan’s testing protocol for residues of beta agonist feed additives such as ractopamine. In an effort to enforce its zero-tolerance policy on the use of beta agonists, the Taiwanese government imposed new testing procedures that caused shipment disruptions and made the business environment very uncertain for meat importers.
But last summer Taiwan’s legislature approved a proposal allowing establishment of a maximum residue level (MRL) for ractopamine in both domestic and imported beef. When this policy change was implemented in September, the regulatory environment stabilized and negative publicity surrounding U.S. beef was greatly reduced. Exports have shown a steady recovery since that time, and are off to their best start ever in 2013. Through March, beef exports to Taiwan totaled 8,669 metric tons valued at $66.1 million – increases of 56 percent in volume and 88 percent in value over the first quarter of 2012.
In the attached audio report, Dan Halstrom, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) senior vice president for marketing and communications, discusses the rapid recovery U.S. beef exports have made in this important market.
Because Taiwan made no changes in its beta agonist policy for pork, U.S. pork exports to Taiwan continue to struggle. March results were encouraging, as exports increased 8 percent in volume (1,916 metric tons) and 13 percent in value ($4.4 million) from a year ago. For the first quarter, however, pork exports were still down 14 percent in both volume (5,548 metric tons) and value ($12.3 million).
Halstrom notes that because the beta agonist controversy has faded from the media spotlight in Taiwan, demand for U.S. pork has been improving. But in order for the market to perform as its previous level, establishment of a ractopamine MRL for pork remains a high priority for the U.S. industry.
TRANSCRIPT:
JOE SCHUELE: When first quarter results for US Meat Exports were released last week, the rebounded beef shipments to Taiwan emerged as one of the clear bright spots. In this US Meat Export Federation Report, Dan Halstrom, USMEF’s Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communication, discusses the circumstances that made this recovery possible. This includes Taiwan’s decision to modify its zero tolerance policy on the use of beta agonist feed additives, such as ractopamine. In September, a maximum residue level, or MRL for ractopamine, was established for both domestic and imported beef. Halstrom says this paved the way for a rapid recovery of US beef exports to this important market.
DAN HALSTROM: Taiwan had a volatile history in the last year. In beef we were struggling with access in regards to zero tolerance on beta agonist. There is no established MRL and we did get the MRL established on the beef side and business has really rebounded fantastically. I mean demand is as good as it’s ever been, we’re up significantly in the first three months of 2013 to the tune of 88% for the year, so we’re at 66 million dollars in the Taiwan Market which is just unbelievable compared to a year ago. I think it just goes to show that when we get access to a country demand dynamics kick in for US beef and this is a good example of that.
JOE SCHUELE: Taiwan made no change in its beta agonist policy for pork, so US pork exports to Taiwan have continued to struggle, but Halstrom says efforts continue to rebuild this market to its previous level.
DAN HALSTROM: The same dynamics are true there on pork. The demand is there, but because we’re not as transparent on the access side because of the lack of MRLs its creating a problem on getting any kind of significant momentum on the growth side. So we’re working on that, but I’m confident once we get that aspect of the business figured out, like we did on beef, pork should see a good rebound, as well.
JOE SCHUELE: For more on this and other trade issues, please visit USMEF.ORG. For the US Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.
Meat exports to Taiwan suffered a significant setback in late 2011 and much of last year due to changes in Taiwan’s testing protocol for residues of beta agonist feed additives such as ractopamine. In an effort to enforce its zero-tolerance policy on the use of beta agonists, the Taiwanese government imposed new testing procedures that caused shipment disruptions and made the business environment very uncertain for meat importers.
But last summer Taiwan’s legislature approved a proposal allowing establishment of a maximum residue level (MRL) for ractopamine in both domestic and imported beef. When this policy change was implemented in September, the regulatory environment stabilized and negative publicity surrounding U.S. beef was greatly reduced. Exports have shown a steady recovery since that time, and are off to their best start ever in 2013. Through March, beef exports to Taiwan totaled 8,669 metric tons valued at $66.1 million – increases of 56 percent in volume and 88 percent in value over the first quarter of 2012.
In the attached audio report, Dan Halstrom, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) senior vice president for marketing and communications, discusses the rapid recovery U.S. beef exports have made in this important market.
Because Taiwan made no changes in its beta agonist policy for pork, U.S. pork exports to Taiwan continue to struggle. March results were encouraging, as exports increased 8 percent in volume (1,916 metric tons) and 13 percent in value ($4.4 million) from a year ago. For the first quarter, however, pork exports were still down 14 percent in both volume (5,548 metric tons) and value ($12.3 million).
Halstrom notes that because the beta agonist controversy has faded from the media spotlight in Taiwan, demand for U.S. pork has been improving. But in order for the market to perform as its previous level, establishment of a ractopamine MRL for pork remains a high priority for the U.S. industry.
TRANSCRIPT:
JOE SCHUELE: When first quarter results for US Meat Exports were released last week, the rebounded beef shipments to Taiwan emerged as one of the clear bright spots. In this US Meat Export Federation Report, Dan Halstrom, USMEF’s Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communication, discusses the circumstances that made this recovery possible. This includes Taiwan’s decision to modify its zero tolerance policy on the use of beta agonist feed additives, such as ractopamine. In September, a maximum residue level, or MRL for ractopamine, was established for both domestic and imported beef. Halstrom says this paved the way for a rapid recovery of US beef exports to this important market.
DAN HALSTROM: Taiwan had a volatile history in the last year. In beef we were struggling with access in regards to zero tolerance on beta agonist. There is no established MRL and we did get the MRL established on the beef side and business has really rebounded fantastically. I mean demand is as good as it’s ever been, we’re up significantly in the first three months of 2013 to the tune of 88% for the year, so we’re at 66 million dollars in the Taiwan Market which is just unbelievable compared to a year ago. I think it just goes to show that when we get access to a country demand dynamics kick in for US beef and this is a good example of that.
JOE SCHUELE: Taiwan made no change in its beta agonist policy for pork, so US pork exports to Taiwan have continued to struggle, but Halstrom says efforts continue to rebuild this market to its previous level.
DAN HALSTROM: The same dynamics are true there on pork. The demand is there, but because we’re not as transparent on the access side because of the lack of MRLs its creating a problem on getting any kind of significant momentum on the growth side. So we’re working on that, but I’m confident once we get that aspect of the business figured out, like we did on beef, pork should see a good rebound, as well.
JOE SCHUELE: For more on this and other trade issues, please visit USMEF.ORG. For the US Meat Export Federation, I’m Joe Schuele.