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Lawmakers criticize DOH for food safety deal with Chinese

Legislators from across party lines yesterday criticized Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) for the department’s inability to secure compensation for Taiwanese firms affected by the melamine scandal but he promised to have China’s Duqing Co provide test results within three days.

The criticism came in a meeting of the Health, Environment and Labor Committee, during which Yeh reported on the food safety agreement signed last week between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).

Several legislators criticized Duqing for sending officials to take samples of King Car Industrial Co’s creamer for testing last month but not providing Taiwan with their report.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋菫) said she was appalled that “a criminal could come into a victim’s home and take samples.”

DPP legislators also slammed the food safety deal as too vague to enable legal action.

“If you cannot even get something as straightforward as a test report [from Duqing], then what is the use of signing [the agreement]?” Tien said.

Yeh defended the deal by citing a recent survey by the Mainland Affairs Council, which found that 68 percent of respondents believed the SEF-ARATS negotiations helped resolve problems.

Tien, however, said that the agreement would give a false perception that food safety problems across the Taiwan Strait could be solved.

“You have cheated the 70 percent of Taiwanese who still believe you,” Tien said.

DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said the agreement did not detail what actions could or would be taken if either side failed to live up to the pact.

“This agreement did not change China’s attitude [toward the melamine scandal],” he said.

Lai said the last time Yeh was at the legislature he promised that Duqing would provide the report within seven days, but that was more than two weeks ago.

Yeh said Duqing was not providing prompt answers.

DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) called Yeh a “what to do minister,” saying that he never knew what to do when China failed to keep its promises, or if Duqing tampered with the sample to enable it to claim its product was not contaminated.

When Chen demanded that Yeh provide a deadline for the Duqing report, Yeh said he would have Duqing provide a report within three days, since the food safety pact takes effect today.

Some KMT legislators also expressed concern over Duqing.

“[China] doesn’t have the same testing standards as Taiwan, so what happens when there are disputes?” KMT Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) said, adding that China could reject tests conducted by a neutral party and refuse to provide compensation.
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