Pan said he suspected the Executive Yuan had been under tremendous pressure to lift the ban from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the US, which is sending US Under-Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez for a visit from March 4 to 6.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) urged Ma, Chen and the KMT to show their sincerity in the ensuing process and warned them against playing a “two-handed strategy,” with the KMT controlling a majority in the legislature.
The Executive Yuan had showed its insincerity when it amended the wording of the final texts of the results of the negotiations, insisting on adding “in the near future” to its pledge not to lift the ban by executive order, DPP Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said.
TSU caucus whip Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said his party launched the boycott because Chen did not respond to the TSU’s demand to pledge to ban ractopamine from all imported meat products.
Ractopamine has been banned in Taiwan since 2006 over public health concerns. The ban could be lifted by an executive order because the ban is not written into any law.
The US, one of the 27 countries in the world which have determined that meat containing ractopamine residue is safe for human consumption, has urged Taiwan to lift the ban, saying that the way the matter needs to be resolved before high-level trade talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement between Washington and Taipei can resume.
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