With the new management measures, the DOH will only allow imports of beef and beef products from cattle younger than 30 months raised in countries that are listed by the World Organization for Animal Health as risk-controlled for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease.

Those cattle must have their tonsils and the ileum of the small intestine removed before they are shipped to Taiwan, DOH officials said, noting that the department will also prohibits traders from shipping beef offal and ground beef from BSE risk-controlled areas without permission from the relevant authorities.

According to the officials, the management measures also stipulate that importers of U.S. ground beef, offal, brains, eyes, spinal cords and skulls must apply for an import permit from the trade authorities.

Importers must display a quarantine certificate issued by the exporting country for the products, an import permit and a sanitation certificate before their goods will be allowed to clear customs.

In terms of measures the DOH will adopt for safety checks on the beef imports, the officials continued, samples of imported beef offal will be defrosted for testing from each batch.

Imports of ground beef will also undergo checks per batch and brains, eyes, spinal cords and skulls will be checked per batch and per case.

Any shipments found to be in violation of any of the regulations will be returned to point of origin or destroyed, the officials said.

The new management measures were outlined in conjunction with a ruling Kuomintang move to amend the Food Sanitation Act restricting controversial U.S. beef imports.

The proposed amendment, which was scheduled to clear the floor at the Legislative Yuan Tuesday, failed to be passed eventually because of a boycott of lawmakers of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which insists that no controversial beef be imported.

Taiwan relaxed restrictions against U.S. bone-in beef, offal and ground beef Nov. 2 based on a protocol signed by Taipei and Washington last month. The relaxation triggered a public outcry.

(By Chou Yung-chieh and Elizabeth Hsu)