Livestock and poultry farmers from across the country will stage a protest on March 3 in Taipei against easing restrictions on imports of beef with ractopamine residue from the US, one of the organizers confirmed yesterday.
“More than 10,000 pig, cattle and chicken farmers and workers will join the protest,” said Yang Guan-chang (楊冠章), director of the Republic of China Swine Association.
The protesters will first march to the Legislative Yuan, then to the Council of Agriculture and the Department of Health to voice their opposition to any government attempt to relax its zero-tolerance policy on ractopamine in US beef, Yang said.
Photo: Liao Shu-ling, Taipei Times
The date of the protest was finalized at a meeting of livestock industry stakeholders and food safety groups in Greater Taichung earlier in the day, Yang said. The groups included the Homemakers’ Union and Foundation and the Taiwan Consumers’ Foundation, he added.
The protest was planned amid rumors that the government might bow to US pressure and allow imports of US beef that contain regulated amounts of the feed additive ractopamine, while maintaining its total ban on the use of the drug by local farmers.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said yesterday he will submit a legislative proposal for a national referendum on whether to set permissible levels of ractopamine in US beef.
Wu said he will seek the legislature’s approval to petition the Central Election Commission to start the referendum process.
He said that, as a number of domestic experts have warned that opening the market to residue-laden beef would pose health risks, the government should not rush to any decision.
“If the government really wants people to accept US beef containing ractopamine, it should allow the people to have the final say,” Wu said.
However, People First Party caucus whip Thomas Lee (李桐豪) expressed concern that if the referendum failed, it could be used as a tool to open the nation’s doors fully to US beef imports.
Lee said the problem could be resolved by revising legislation, an option that he said would also take the pressure off the government.
The use of ractopamine in livestock farming is allowed in more than 20 countries around the world, besdies the US, but is banned in the EU, China and Taiwan.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS