American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young yesterday said that pork containing ractopamine imported from the US was safe and he was expecting Taiwan's government to use a science-based approach to any decisions concerning future imports of US pork.
"Since the US Food and Drug Administration [FDA] approved the use of ractopamine in the US in 1999, consumers in the US and Taiwan alike have been eating and enjoying US pork produced this way," Young said. "The FDA has a well-deserved reputation for its scientific expertise and has a rigorous approval process before any new veterinary drug is allowed for use in the US."
Young made the remarks in a press release yesterday.
Regarding recent criticism that the AIT has been pressuring Taiwan's government with its advocacy of a science-based approach to the testing and approval of ractopamine, Young said that he understood people's concerns but food safety was also an important issue for the US government.
In addition, Young said that the US government had no intention of taking over Taiwan's pork market to the detriment of local hog farmers' business.
"Our negotiating position on this has always been simply in the interest of lowering trade barriers between the US and Taiwan and maintaining a level playing field for international trade," he said.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) criticized the government for having an inconsistent agricultural policy.
Using the ractopamine controversy as an example, Ma said the government had not yet made a final decision about whether to relax restrictions on the use of the drug.
"I cannot understand why [the government] would fail to take care of our farmers," Ma said at a pomelo farm in Yunlin. "Pig farmers are a crucial part of Taiwan's economy."
"The government cannot hesitate now because farmers have started to suffer losses as a result of the fall in pork prices," Ma said.
The government has been heavily criticized since the Department of Health (DOH) and Council of Agriculture revealed last week that they were thinking of relaxing the regulations regarding ractopamine in imported pork but maintaining it for local meat.
Taiwan has banned the use of ractopamine, a drug that promotes the growth of lean meat in pigs and cattle, calling it a health threat. The ban on the hormone covers domestic and imported meat.
Although the Cabinet said on Monday it would not make any changes to the restrictions before it analyzes data, thousands of pig farmers protested in front of DOH, the council and the AIT on Tuesday against the potential change.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS