“The negotiations were made to seek more space for the country’s participation in international society,” he said.
Ma said the government would act as the “gatekeeper” to ensure public safety, but said: “We respect any consumers who decide to adopt higher standards or take certain action.”
SCHOOL LUNCHES
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), a KMT member, announced yesterday that US beef or beef products would not be served in school lunches in his city.
“I accept the government policy but execution of the policy would be a different story, because public health must be the foremost priority. The central government should publish a list of US beef exporters and the history of the cattle for every meat shipment,” the mayor said.
The DPP’s Tsai said there was no way to ensure the public would be safe unless such imports were banned.
“No matter how local governments or vendors try to exercise self-monitoring, it will never be completely foolproof. The public might still end up consuming meat and internal organs without knowing,” Tsai said.
Restaurant owners, however, have mixed feelings about the controversial imports.
Sabrina Yu (尤君惠), the manager of Frank’s Texas Barbecue, a steak house in Taipei County that only serves US beef, said the restaurant welcomed the lifting of the ban on bone-in beef such as T-bone steak or ribs, but such items would not appear on its menu until they have been proven to be risk-free, she said.
A beef noodle shop owner in Tamsui Township (淡水) surnamed Chao said he was willing to use imported cow organs from the US such as tripe as long as the price was reasonable and the customers liked the flavor.
“Of course I am worried that some customers who are more politically minded might refuse to eat at my restaurant. But this is a business and if the internal organs from the US are safe and cheap, then I will use them,” he said.
Jeffrey Chen (陳毅達), a graduate student who lived in the US for nine years, said he was not worried about mad cow disease in US beef but still refuses to buy the meat because “it would be supporting a policy that I strongly disagree with.”
The Ma administration should have asked for more from the US before signing the deal, he said.
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