Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday supported banning “risky” beef products to override a protocol recently signed with the US.
Saying that legislators across party lines had agreed to amend the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) and ban beef products that may be “health-threatening,” Wang said the amendment, once passed, would trump the protocol.
Wang said he had talked to National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) about the amendment, adding that the legislature would respect the government’s opinion.
PHOTO: LIAO SHU-LING, TAIPEI TIMES
Lawmakers agreed on Tuesday that the amendment, which they vowed to pass by Nov. 17, should ban the import of bovine organs, spinal cords, brains, skulls and eyes as well as ground beef.
The legislature is expected to allow two versions of the proposal to skip a preliminary review at tomorrow’s session. One is from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the other from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Daniel Hwang (黃義交).
The KMT is undecided on whether the ban should apply to “risky” products from all regions where cases of mad cow disease have been recorded or only to regions with current outbreaks.
Under the terms of the protocol signed with the US, bone-in beef, ground beef, bovine intestines, brains, spinal cords and processed beef from cattle younger than 30 months that have not been contaminated with “specific risk materials” (SRMs) will be allowed into Taiwan starting Tuesday.
SRMs are defined in the protocol as the brain, skull, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, vertebral column and dorsal root ganglia of cattle 30 months of age and older, as well as the tonsils and the distal ileum of the small intestine from all cattle.
But in response to public criticism, the government on Monday said it would effectively block ground beef and bovine intestines by changing import inspection rules. Ground beef and intestine imports will be thawed for examination (ruining them in the process) and any shipments mixed with bone-in beef will be destroyed.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) dismissed media speculation that the US had warned the government against undermining the protocol.
“All of the measures taken by the health department, the Council of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are meant to safeguard the health of Taiwanese and food sanitation. They are necessary,” Su Jun-pin said.
He said the government dealt with the issue “from the perspective of the people” and the measures would remain unchanged.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said he had no information indicating that Washington had warned the government over the legislature’s proposed amendment.
At a separate setting yesterday, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the US, as a large beef producer, has difficulty ensuring the safety and sanitation of each and every slaughterhouse and packing plant, while Taiwan lacks the resources and expertise to ensure that all US beef imports are safe.
“Japan has an exemplary inspection mechanism in which it posts its own inspectors to the US to examine the quality and safety of the beef. But as a small country, Taiwan does not have that because it would be a monumental burden on the Department of Health,” she said.
The US recently reported two deaths resulting from beef tainted with E. Coli, which sickened another 28.
Tsai said most Americans do not eat the internal organs of cows and it is therefore questionable that the products would be scrutinized to the same extent by slaughterhouses and sanitation authorities prior to export. At the same time, the US does not require all meat producers to register their cattle, she said, making it difficult to trace the origin of any tainted meat that reaches Taiwan.
Former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Ma was arrogant in thinking he could “fool the Americans” with technicalities. “I was premier before, so I understand the heavy pressure from the US over beef [imports]. Still, Ma really surprised everyone with his inability to withstand pressure when he promised the US full access,” he said.
In related developments, supermarkets, restaurants and fast food chains on Taipei’s Yongkang Street and surrounding areas yesterday displayed logos issued by the city government to declare their boycott of US ground beef, intestines and spinal cords.
Well-known stores and restaurants in the Yongkang Street area including Matsusei Supermarket, Mos Burger, Tung Men Dumpling Restaurant and Yongkang Beef Noodle Shop, joined the “Anti-US Ground Beef, Intestines and Spinal Cords Association” formed by the city government, and said displaying the logo would help their business.
“Customers are worried about eating US beef without knowing. We always use beef from Taiwan and Australia, so displaying the logo will help us inform the customers and ease their worries,” the owner of Yongkang Beef Noodle Shop said.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) toured the area to issue the logo stickers to the stores yesterday morning, saying that more than 1,200 establishments had joined, many of which asked to receive the logos as soon as possible.
Hau brushed off apparent US opposition to boycotts by local governments and said the city’s campaign was legal and in the public interest.
“The city government has not violated any regulations, and [forming this association] is within our authority,” he said at Yongkang Street.
“Even in the US, state governments have some autonomy in dealing with the policies of the central government,” he said.
When asked about a potential referendum on whether the government should renegotiate its beef policy with the US, Hau said both a plebiscite and demonstrations over the matter would be a waste of resources.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique