The Council of Agriculture will adopt a carrot and stick approach in an effort to prevent pork from pigs that are sick or have died before reaching slaughterhouses from entering the market.
Lee Chin-lung (李金龍), chairman of the Cabinet-level council, made the remarks during a visit to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport yesterday to inspect the work of quarantine officers and sniffer dogs during the Lunar New Year holiday.
PHOTO: CNA
Amid public concern that a large amount of pork from pigs that were sick or had died before reaching abattoirs has been sold by unscrupulous money-hungry criminal farmers in local meat markets, the council is studying ways to manage the problem at the grassroots level, Lee said.
The measures being studied include educating pig raisers on how to handle dead pigs properly and providing incentives to persuade them to send sick or dead pigs to plants that produce organic fertilizer, Lee said.
The council also plans to launch a campaign warning pig farmers not to sell their dead or sick pigs to meat markets so as not to undermine the sale of pork in the hope that they will follow government policy.
In addition, the council is studying measures to confiscate the assets of those who make pork products from sick and dead pigs, Lee said.
Last Sunday, Premier Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh said the government would do whatsoever it can to punish those breaking the law.
"We want to seize their assets and make them so broke that they don't dare to do it again," he said.
Lee yesterday also took the opportunity to urge the public not to bring any fresh fruit or meat products into Taiwan, especially in light of the launch of cross-strait charter flights on Jan. 29 for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Noting that many Taiwanese are in the habit of bringing agricultural products into Taiwan from China, he said the council's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine has since Jan. 29 seized 640kg of smuggled agricultural and poultry products.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS