Domestic beef production traceability system launched, Taiwan cattle also have ID cards now

Under the influence of free trade and international politics, opening up imports of agricultural products has become an unstoppable reality, including the conditional opening, starting in 2012, of imports of beef containing ractopamine. However, the public still has concerns about the safety of imported beef, so the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation mandates that the country of origin of beef raw materials must be labeled; in addition, the Council of Agriculture is promoting a "domestic beef production traceability system," through which consumers can use a "traceability electronic tag" to look up the slaughter date of the cattle as well as the name, address, person in charge and other production origin information of the livestock farm and slaughterhouse, ensuring that consumers buy domestic beef with transparent, guaranteed origins.

Ear tags pinned on, cattle records filed, truly tracing production origins

Note 1. Demonstration sites for disclosing the origin of domestic beef:

Hongjing Yu Mu Niu, No. 205, Zhuangjing Road, Taipei City

Dongshi Meat Niu Zhen Guan, No. 741, Yuanhuan East Road, Fengyuan District, Taichung City

Dounan Township Farmers' Association Taiwan Beef Specialty Store, No. 100, Datong Road, Dounan Township, Yunlin County

Yunzhang Ranch Taiwan Beef Specialty Store, No. 370, Guangfu Road, Huwei Township, Yunlin County

Ye Ji Local Fresh Beef, No. 228, Ren'ai Road, Chiayi City

Note 2. Information provided by: Li Yucai, Technical Specialist, Livestock Production Section, Animal Industry Department, Council of Agriculture