TAIPEI, Feb 9, 2010 (AFP) - The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, a group representing US businesses in Taiwan, Tuesday urged Washington to resume trade and investment talks with the island despite a row over beef imports.

In a letter to Deputy US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis the chamber expressed hopes that "legislative action in Taiwan on the question of US beef imports, however regrettable, will not cause continued delay in the talks."

Negotiations on a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement between Taiwan and the United States, dormant since mid-2007, had been expected this month, but a flare-up in a long-standing dispute over beef caused another delay.

The talks went into limbo nearly three years ago after Taiwan reintroduced a ban on US bovine offal and ground beef amid a scare over mad cow disease.

Taiwan moved in October last year to allow US beef-on-the-bone, cow organs and minced beef, but met with public outcry and last month decided to overturn the decision.

The US government said in a statement then it was "deeply disappointed", warning that the decision could undermine Taiwan's credibility as a responsible trading partner.

The chamber called on Marantis in Tuesday's letter to keep the beef issue separate from the trade talks, "enabling the United States and Taiwan to move forward to address the numerous other important matters."

Taiwan banned all US beef imports in December 2003 over fears of mad cow disease. In 2006, Taipei relaxed the rules to permit imports of boneless beef.

Some scientists believe that consumption of the brains and spinal cords of animals infected with mad cow disease can lead to the potentially fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.