The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday criticized the government for announcing radiation standards on pet food, elvers and compost from Japan, saying that the announcement could be a precursor to lifting a ban on imports of food products from five of Japan’s prefectures, which was imposed due to fears that they were affected by the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011.
The radiation standards announced on Tuesday by the Council of Agriculture set the permissible amounts of cesium-134 and cesium-137 in Japanese pet food, elvers and compost at 1,250 becquerels.
The standards could go into effect as soon as October, the council said.
Photo: Cheng Hung-ta, Taipei Times
“The move shows that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is pandering to the Japanese government at the cost of murdering pets,” the KMT caucus told a news conference at the legislature in Taipei. “It could be a sign that the government would soon lift the ban on food products [for humans] from Japanese prefectures affected by the Fukushima accident.”
KMT Secretary-General Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) urged government agencies to clarify the context in which the standards were set, adding that the elvers would be sold once they are fully grown eels.
He also asked whether the standards were one of the Tsai administration’s trade negotiation tactics.
Agencies should never use food products from the five prefectures in trade negotiations with Japan, Lin said.
KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) said the Atomic Energy Council on Tuesday announced that it had increased its workload from inspecting 1,400 potentially radiation-contaminated products a day to 1,700 products.
Wang said that on the surface, the energy council has stepped up its inspection efforts, but added that the move is probably meant to pave the way to lift the import ban in the run-up to the bilateral economic and trade talks at the end of the year.
The Tsai administration should inform the public of the potential hazards associated with lifting the ban on Japanese pet food, otherwise it is “bullying pets, which have no say in this matter,” KMT Vice Secretary-General William Tseng (曾銘宗) said.
The Council of Agriculture said it introduced the standards to ensure that farming environments and pet food are safe.
The changes would tighten rules on Japanese agricultural products and pet food, rather than relaxing them, it said, adding that the government did not previously regulate pet food, elvers or compost.
The government has import bans on nine categories of food products produced in Fukushima and four other prefectures — Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki and Chiba — while food products exported from elsewhere in Japan are required to have official documents proving their origin, the Council of Agriculture said.
The Executive Yuan said the new measures are to ensure pet food safety and are not part of reported plans to ease restrictions on food imports from the five prefectures.
“There are no radiation control measures on pet food and agriculture products that are not for human consumption. The new measure is to ensure pet health,” Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said. “The rules can only offer better protection to pets, which is consumer rights protection for pet owners.”
Agricultural products, including pet foods, that are manufactured in the five prefectures remain banned, while the new measure is not intended to pave the way for lifting a ban on Japanese food imports from those areas, Hsu said.
Additional reporting by Chen Wei-han
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