Hau, who voiced outright opposition last week to the government's decision to allow imports of U.S. beef offal and ground beef, said that the Taipei City Health Bureau had sent letters to the city's restaurants that same day about the guidelines after three restaurants were found the previous day to be misleading customers about the source of their beef.

The mayor said the restaurants in question were advertising Japan's Matsusaka beef on their menus while actually selling beef imported from New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.

Many high-end teppanyaki restaurants in Taipei used to sell Japan's famous Kobe and Matsusaka beef, which comes from cattle raised according to strict tradition.

However, Taiwan has not allowed any imports of Kobe or Matsusaka beef from Japan since 2003, Hau noted, adding that during an inspection of 70 city restaurants conducted in February and March, no Japanese beef have been found for sale.

Under the Fair Trade Law, restaurants using false advertising can face fines ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$25 million, Taipei City's consumer protection ombudsman Chung Jui-hsiang said, adding that any restaurant found selling smuggled Japanese beef will also face fines and will have its illegal beef destroyed in accordance with the Consumer Protection Law.

(By Johnson Sun and Fanny Liu)