WASHINGTON – Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and eight other congressional representatives met with the prime ministers of four Asian countries earlier this month, pushing for more U.S. beef and fruit imports and tighter monitoring of those countries’ methamphetamine exports.

Walden and his wife, Mylene, joined the eight other congressional couples, including two Demo-cratic congressmen, and the House chaplain on a two-week trip to India, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who invited Walden on the trip, canceled at the last minute.

Walden said the government-paid trip was designed to pave the way for a similar trip by President Bush, who said in a speech Tuesday that he will travel to India and Pakistan in March. A delegation of senators, including Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., traveled to some of the same countries in December.

In India, Walden brought the issue of meth production to the attention of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Singh was not aware that his country is one of the top five exporters of pseudo-ephedrine, a cold medicine used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine, Walden said.

After the delegates told the prime minister about the devastating effects meth has had on Oregon and other states, ”he literally sat up straight in his chair and said, ‘I want to help,’” Walden said.

Singh assigned a cabinet minister to work with Walden to design a way to track Indian pseudo-ephedrine exports.

Walden and the other delegates also had success addressing bans on U.S. beef imports in Singapore and Thailand. In Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed to lift the ban, imposed after a U.S. cow was found to have mad cow disease in late 2003, just days before the delegation arrived. The prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, told the American delegation that he would address the issue within days, Walden said.

”We got a commitment out of the prime minister to lift the ban, and in a timely manner,” Walden said. ”I intend to follow up with a letter.”

Beef was the second most valuable agricultural commodity in Oregon in 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Although the USDA announced Wednesday that the ban had been lifted in Taiwan, the fifth-biggest international market for U.S. beef, many countries still prohibit it.

”Prior to December 2003, we traded (beef) with approximately 95 countries,” explained USDA spokesman Ed Loyd. ”With today’s announcement, we’re at just over 70.” The remaining countries represent a potential U.S. beef market of about $900 million.

Patrick Mayer, international trade manager for the USDA in Oregon, said he could not put a value on the business lost in Oregon because of the beef bans.

”Oregon produces a lot of cattle but we’re not processing a lot of beef,” Mayer said.

He added that although cattle prices have gone up and companies that use beef-derived products in soups or the gelatin for multivitamin capsules, for example, are paying more for beef, the overall impact on the state is less significant than in Midwestern states.

International trade came up in several venues on the trip as the congressional representatives negotiated with leaders in Thailand and Vietnam to lower fruit tariffs.

In Vietnam, which imposes a 50 percent tax on apple imports, ”we made progress on pears and cherries, but the current tariff rate on apples is still a little high,” Walden said. Thailand has similar import tariffs on fruit, he said.

”We’re seeking immediate elimination of those tariffs under the proposed Thailand Free Trade Agreement,” he said. As the fourth-largest exporter of fruit in the country, Oregon produced more than $106 million in fruit and fruit preparations in 2004. The representatives also discussed recovering the bodies of American soldiers who perished in the ocean during the Vietnam War and debated India’s request for nuclear power.

”Visits are important for ambassadors. Countries feel ignored when delegations don’t come to see them,” Walden said. ”It shows (them) that America wants to be fully engaged.”