Lu Hsueh-chang, a whip of the governing Kuomintang's legislative caucus, said KMT legislators may reluctantly agree to imports of some types of bone-in beef from the U.S. but will not accept imports of beef offals, as the protocal with Washington seems to allow.

The DOH announced earlier Friday that Taiwan would expand market access for U.S. beef after officials of the two countries clinched an accord Thursday in Washington D. C. to lift a partial ban on U.S. beef imports. Under the terms of the new accord, U.S. bone-in beef, ground beef, intestines, brains, spinal cords and processed beef from cattle younger than 30 months and that have not been contaminated with "specific risk materials" will be allowed to enter Taiwan starting Nov. 10.

Specific risk materials are defined in the protocal as the brain, skull, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, vertebral column and dorsal root ganglia from cattle 30 months of age and older, or tonsils and the distal ileum of the small intestine from cattle of all ages.

At present, Taiwan only allows imports of U.S. boneless beef from cattle younger than 30 months that contain no specified risk materials (SRMs).

Lu blasted the DOH for failing to report in advance to relevant legislative committees on the issue, because "in compliance with a 2006 legislative resolution, the DOH is required to provide detailed reports about the importation of U.S. beef to the legislature." Lu said he was extremely dissatisfied with the government's compromise on the issue and demanded that the DOH immediately halt all related operations.

In response to Hsiao's efforts to convince Lu of the safety of U.S. beef, Lu said he felt ashamed by Hsiao's attitude and threatened to have those who defend the liberalization measure step down, including Premier Wu Den-yih and DOH Minister Yaung Chih-liang. For her part, Hsiao acknowledged that the DOH did not report to the legislature before announcing the promulgation of U.S beef imports from next month.

The legislative caucus of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party also called a news conference Friday afternoon, accusing the DOH of breaching the law by yielding to the U.S. Taiwan first banned U.S. beef in 2003 when a case of mad cow disease surfaced in Seattle. The ban was lifted in April 2005 to allow imports of U.S. de-boned beef from cattle under 30 months, but the ban was reimposed two months later when a second BSE case was discovered in the U.S.