Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday called for “mutual respect” between Taiwan and the US, as Taipei moved to adopt measures to block imports of US ground beef and bovine offal.
Wu dismissed remarks made by American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt when he met with Legislative Speaker Wang Jyn-ping (王金平) on Monday that the controversy surrounding Taiwan’s relaxation of US beef imports was a “phony issue,” saying it was a “real issue of concern to the public.”
“We respect what [Burghardt] said, but we think and feel differently about this issue as he is an American and from a beef-exporting country,” Wu told reporters at the Executive Yuan.
“When people still have doubts over the safety of US ground beef and bovine offal, of course the government has to prohibit imports of such products,” Wu said. “We respect [Burghardt’s] views, and we hope he can understand the public sentiment.”
Taiwan recently signed a protocol with the US to expand market access for US beef to include bone-in beef and other beef products that have not been contaminated with “specific risk materials.”
OUTCRY
In response to a public outcry, the government promised to adopt administrative means to block ground beef and bovine offal, a move supported by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, but a stance that has put them at odds with their Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) counterparts, who have proposed amending the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) to statutorily ban the imports.
Wu said the KMT’s version of the amendments — requiring all imports of ground beef and intestines be thawed for examination in a way that will effectively destroy the products — could create a win-win-win situation to safeguard public health, conform to the spirit of the WTO and respect the Taiwan-US protocol.
“I think there would be no reason for the US to oppose [administrative measures] targeting ground beef and bovine offal, which account for between 1 and 3 percent of its exports, nor would it let [the controversy] pose a negative influence on imports of its bone-in beef into Taiwan,” the premier said.
‘RISKY’ PRODUCTS
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday it was unlikely the legislature would deal with a number of proposed amendments to the Act Governing Food Sanitation seeking to ban “risky” beef products from the US before the local elections next Saturday.
“We can sit down and discuss the proposals after the elections or the legislature will be paralyzed as a result,” Wang told reporters.
Wang made the remarks after the DPP once again occupied the speaker’s podium and threatened to boycott plenary sessions through next Saturday.
PARALYZED
The DPP has paralyzed the plenary session since Nov. 3, making it impossible for any bills to clear the legislative floor over the past three weeks.
By law, the legislature should review and pass the central government’s fiscal budget request by the end of next month.
The deadlock continued because the DPP and the KMT still could not agree on the wording of the proposals.
The DPP would like to enshrine a ban on “risky” US beef products in the law, while the KMT wants to authorize the government to draw up measures to inspect bovine products from places where the risk of mad cow disease has been under control.
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