The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus will mobilize a massive campaign against the Department of Health (DOH) if the government agrees to a full opening to US beef products, the DPP caucus said yesterday.
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) lambasted the government ahead of a possible announcement lifting the ban on US meat from cattle more than 30 months old and beef with bones, saying such an action would jeopardize public health in Taiwan.
Under DPP rule, the government agreed to US beef imports but on the strict condition that the meat be from cattle younger than 30 months of age, and beef with bones was barred when a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease was discovered in 2005.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was optimistic that US beef would gain full access to the Taiwan market “sometime this year,” prompting the media to speculate the ban would be lifted by the end of this month or early next month.
Wang said the government should look at the public angst that arose in South Korea and Japan when those two countries opened their borders to US beef.
Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), another DPP lawmaker questioned whether the Ma administration had conceded to US pressure on beef in exchange for his transit stops on US soil and urged the public to stand united in boycotting US beef.
The DPP said it plans to mobilize the public to launch a “one person, one call” campaign to let the DOH know the public’s objection to lifting the ban.
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