The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is unlikely to get its wish to ban “risky” US beef products by amending the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday clearly opposed such a legal revision.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Ma hoped that cross-party negotiations chaired by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday afternoon would produce a satisfactory result.
If caucus leaders could not reach a consensus, the matter would be put to a vote today, Wang said, adding that Ma hoped the speaker would be able to find a solution that satisfied both sides.
Wang Yu-chi said Ma had “expressed his anticipation” that the ban would not be enshrined in the law and that Wang Jin-pyng was responsible for inter-party negotiations.
Wang Yu-chi made the remarks after the president’s weekly lunch with top goverment officials including Wang Jin-pyng.
Wang Yu-chi said the administration’s aim was to protect public health and reduce doubts about the safety of US beef and beef products. At the same time, they hoped to maintain the nation’s credibility and see the ruling and opposition parties abide by an agreement reached during the last round of cross-party negotiations, he said.
Caucus leaders agreed on Nov. 3 to ban the import of “risky” US beef products, but they did not see eye to eye on how to achieve it. While the DPP caucus wished to enshrine the ban in the Act Governing Food Sanitation, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) wanted to apply administrative measures to conduct strict examinations of the products which would effectively stop them entering the country.
Wang Yu-chi said if the act were amended to include the ban, it would violate the protocol signed by Taipei and Washington.
If the amendment were to institute strict inspection measures on the products, however, it would not violate the country’s international obligations, Wang Yu-chi said.
He said while there had been no word from Washington on the administration’s plan to use administrative means to obstruct imports, he believed the US government “would understand” as long as it did not violate the protocol.
Under the terms of the protocol, US bone-in beef, ground beef, bovine intestines, brains, spinal cords and processed beef from cattle younger than 30 months that have not been contaminated by “specific risk materials” would be allowed to be imported into Taiwan.
Negotiations chaired by the Speaker on amendments to the act broke down yesterday. Caucus leaders agreed to resume talks today.
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said there was no room for concession, adding that his caucus would “express the strongest protest using the strongest means.”
“It is the KMT’s call whether they want to force through the amendments or move DPP lawmakers out of the legislative floor,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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