TAIWAN - The Consumers Foundation in Taiwan has moved to the second phase of its proposed referendum to ban some US beef imports.
This follows discontent among the opposition and consumers with the government s decision last year to allow US bone-in beef, ground beef and bovine offal and spines to be imported after a lengthy ban due to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
Having obtained the required 86,000 signatures (0.5 per cent of voters in the last election) to pass the first phase of the referendum approval process, the Foundation is now looking to collect the signatures of five per cent of eligible voters (860,000) by the deadline set for August 10, 2010.
The Foundation hopes the public, by showing their support for the referendum, will send a message to the US government about their fears of BSE in US bone-in beef, says Meat and Livestock Australia.
