The Council of Agriculture (COA) issued a statement yesterday announcing that the ban on the use of the pig feed additive
ractopamine would soon be lifted. However, no firm dates have been set for the lifting of the ban. Department of Health (DOH) officials said the department is ready to put in place maximum allowable residue levels for ractopamine as soon as the COA unbans the
substance."
The move represents a dramatic turnaround as officials said earlier this month they would crack down on the use of the additive.
DOH officials said a consensus was reached after a panel of 19 experts were consulted on the safety of ractopamine use.
"In the end, we have to respect the opinion of experts on food safety," said Huang Kuo-ching (
The DOH said the proposed maximum allowable residue levels in pork and beef were 10 parts per billion (ppb) for muscle and fatty tissue, 40ppb in liver and 90ppb in kidney.
However, Huang said the COA had not set a firm date for the lifting of the ban. The DOH, in turn, said it could not finalize the allowable residue limit for ractopamine while the ban is still in place.
Ractopamine, an additive used to promote the growth of lean meat, became an issue last month when two shipments of US pork were found to contain residues of less than 1ppb of the banned substance. Marketed under the trade name "Paylean" by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, the additive is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Subsequent testing of domestic pork revealed the presence of ractopamine in three out of 43 samples, the Bureau of Food Sanitation (BFS) said.
On Aug. 4, Yeh Ying (
BFS Director Cheng Huei-wen (鄭慧文) denied charges that pressure had been brought to bear by US interests to lift the ban on ractopamine in order to smooth the way for continued US pork imports.
Cheng also denied that footage broadcast by CTI-TV showed American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) personnel visiting the BFS office yesterday.
"Those were not AIT personnel at all, but representatives of an American rice grower's association," he said, adding that AIT personnel last visited the BFS office on Aug. 2.
Objecting to the decision to lift the ban, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus yesterday urged Cheng to step down and threatened to freeze the BFS' budget.
"Ractopamine is banned in about 160 countries. Only 24 countries permit its use," TSU Legislator Yin Ling-ying (尹伶瑛) said.
"Some people claim the nation should lift restrictions on ractopamine in order to be `connected to the world,' but the TSU caucus believes the regulation should not be relaxed because we have to safeguard the rights of consumers," Yin said.
Yang Her-pei (楊河北), a representative of a local pig farmers' association, said he could not understand why the DOH planned to lift the ban when there was evidence that ractopamine posed a health threat.
"China and the European Union also forbid the use of ractopamine ... It is very hard not to speculate that the DOH wants to lift the ban to benefit US pork exporters," he said.
Representatives of the associations threatened to stage demonstrations in front of the DOH and the council next Tuesday if health officials fail to offer a "reasonable" explanation for their lifting of the ban.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
RSS