President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday reiterated the government’s neutral stance on the US beef import issue, saying that his administration had not made any promises to the US and would not relax regulations on US beef imports until the effect of ractopamine on public health has been carefully examined.
“The [lean-meat enhancing] food additive is banned in Taiwan, and we will communicate with the public if we decide to lift the ban ... Food safety and consumers’ health are our top priorities, and we [have] never made any promises to the US,” he said at the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee meeting.
Ma’s comments came as the KMT invited Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) to present a report on ractopamine’s health risks.
Chen said that previous studies and the experts invited by the ministry agreed that meat from animals fed ractopamine, a feed additive used to improve lean-meat production in livestock, should be safe for human consumption.
While saying that the food additive did not pose an immediate threat to human health, he added that the ministry would continue to discuss the effect of ractopamine in another meeting on Saturday and communicate with the public in the process.
“Protecting public health is our priority. There are no presumptions or timetables on the issue, and we will handle the issue carefully,” he said.
Lifting restrictions on US beef appeared imminent following Ma’s comments after his meeting with American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt and recent Cabinet meetings.
Ma yesterday said the US had expressed concern about the beef imports issue since the government banned the use of ractopamine in meat, adding that he had explained the government’s stance on various occasions when meeting with US guests.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said a poll conducted by the DPP showed that 80 percent of respondents said they did not believe US beef containing traces of the feed additive was safe for human consumption.
DPP caucus whip Pan Men-an (潘孟安) told a press conference that only 11.7 percent of respondents believed US beef containing ractopamine was safe.
However, 71 percent of respondents said they were not confident that the government could handle the issue in accordance with the public’s interests, while 57.1 percent believed the Cabinet’s holding inter-ministerial meetings to discuss the issue was only to back an already-made decision to lift the ban on US beef containing -ractopamine, Pan said. Only 28.9 percent said they believed the the meetings were being held to protect people’s health, he said.
Pan said the DPP headquarters conducted the telephone survey between Feb. 22 and Friday last week. A total of 909 samples were collected, with 3.2 percent margin of error.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
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