An expert who had been invited to give his views at an inter-ministerial meeting on the issue of US beef imports yesterday left about 10 minutes after the meeting began, saying that the process was not transparent.
Chou Chin-cheng (周晉澄), dean and chairman of the Institute of Veterinary Clinical Science at National Taiwan University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, walked out of the meeting — the second to be held on the controversy surrounding ractopamine residue in US beef imports — after his request that the Council of Agriculture make the transcripts of the meeting public was rejected.
“The government has to publicize all the information it bases its decisions on, regardless of whether the information is correct or incorrect,” Chou told reporters.
Photo: CNA
He said he was the only participant who wanted the council to provide either a transcript or video of the meeting to the public.
If the government really welcomes various opinions, the different views expressed in the meeting should be made public — not just the conclusions, Chou said.
Chou said he would attend the next committee meeting if invited, but would again insist that the discussions be made public.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
At a press conference afterward, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hwa (胡興華) said a majority of the participants were in favor of a closed-door meeting and opposed the release of a transcript so they could speak freely.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) and Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) led about 30 people from nine civic groups in a small protest outside the council’s headquarters as the meeting was being held.
“We have three demands. First, as the issue is a public health matter, there is no room for compromise with the US. Second, the council has to open all of its meeting records for public inspection. Third, the committee should be reshuffled,” Homemakers’ Union and Foundation chairperson Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said.
While the first meeting on the issue was criticized for being one-sided, several experts from the private sector who oppose the use of ractopamine in animal feed were invited to yesterday’s meeting, although they were in the minority.
Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) said the government would intensify its efforts to enforce control measures on feed additives.
His comments came after reports that traces of ractopamine residue had been found in US beef products in the local market.
The government could increase the inspection rate on US beef imports or revoke licenses from importers that fail to enforce restrictions on US beef imports that contain ractopamine residue, Chen said.
His comments came after some hypermarket chains, including Carrefour, RT-Mart and A-Mart, temporarily removed US beef products from their shelves after the products were found to contain traces of ractopamine.
“The use of beta-agonists [like ractopamine] is still banned. Sale of any meat which contains the substance is illegal.” the premier said.
Importers found violating the regulation would be subject to higher border inspection rates or could have import permits revoked,” he said.
Under pressure from Washington, where research has shown that ractopamine, a leanness-promoting agent, is used in the raising of 45 percent of US pigs and 30 percent of ration-fed cattle, the government has resigned itself to considering lifting the ban.
It is holding a series of inter-ministerial committee meetings to address the issue and set up a task force to re-examine the health risks surrounding ractopamine.
The moves have ignited consumer concerns over the safety of US beef. Local authorities recently began testing samples of US beef sold at hypermarkets to ascertain whether residue from drugs banned in Taiwan could be detected.
Two samples of US beef sold at RT-Mart and Carrefour in Taipei were found to have ractopamine residue, among a total of six items tested; in Greater Kaohsiung, traces of ractopamine were found in three of six items sold at Dollars and RT-Mart.
Kung Tsau-lien (鞏彩蓮), a representative of RT-Mart, said that all US beef products sold by the company were accompanied with certificates of export and certificates of quarantine from the US, as well as certificates of compliance issued by the Department of Health and the Council of Agriculture.
“It seems that [the certificates] were not enough,” Kung said.
Carrefour public relations manager Ho Mo-chen (何默真) said the company had pulled all US beef products from shelves and referred the products for testing.
“To safeguard consumers’ interest, we would not put them on the shelves unless they are assured it is ractopamine-free,” she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS