to 0 days. Japan, South Korea Japan, which had permitted its feed additive use at least until 2009, and South Korea only allow import of meat with ractopamine residues up to the maximum residue limit (MRL), but do not permit its use in beef production. Taiwan In October 2006, Taiwan banned ractopamine along with other beta-adrenergic agonists. In a 2012 climb-down, its legislature passed amendments to its Act Governing Food Sanitation, authorising government agencies to set safety standards for ractopamine. The Taiwanese Department of Health ultimately established an MRL of 10 ppb for ractopamine in beef on 31 July 2012. The American Institute in Taiwan, which represents US interests in Taiwan, states that these "and many other countries have determined that meat from animals fed ractopamine is safe for human consumption"; this is in the context of an ongoing trade dispute between Taiwan and the US on this subject, which threatened to prevent Taiwan's entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. In 2020, restrictions on imports of US pork with ractopamine were relaxed, leading to protests. A referendum took place on December 18, 2021 , deciding whether to ban the import of pork with ractopamine, and the ban was rejected. China, Russia In 2013, Russia and China banned ractopamine in pork, and Russia also in beef, deeming it unfit for human consumption. Because the traditional Chinese diet embraces pig offal, and because ractopamine is concentrated by the gastro-intestinal system of animals, Chinese officials have banned ractopamine. Other countries in Asia, whose traditional diet is similar to that of the Chinese, have had similar concerns, but the American use of tied trade access as a proxy for conflict has somewhat mitigated their reactions. New Zealand, Russia In 2017, Russia banned imports of beef from New Zealand after finding ractopamine in New Zealand beef. Ractopamine is not registered for use in cattle in New Zealand. WADA proscription In 2015, an 18-year-old female karateka (martial arts practitioner) from Egypt gave a urine sample in order for her drugs test to be administered. It was found that the urine contained too much ractopamine and the athlete was sanctioned with ineligibility for four years. The sole arbitrator from the Court of Arbitration for Sport said that ractopamine "is not specifically mentioned by name in the World Anti-Doping Code (“WADC”), but is an Other Anabolic Agent prohibited under S1.2 of the 2015 Prohibited List under the