Civic groups and the Consumers’ Foundation yesterday encouraged consumers to call legislators and urge them to vote against relaxing a ban on ractopamine residues in US meat products, stressing that the health of Taiwanese should not be used as a trading chip for economic development.
A vote on amendments to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) is scheduled for tomorrow in the legislature, which if the ban on ractopamine residues in meat products is relaxed, restrictions on US beef imports would be eased.
Quoting President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from last week about the decision on US beef imports having significant influence on whether Taiwan could become an open and liberalized economy, the foundation said the government should halt all US beef imports until clear scientific evidence proves the meat products containing the residues are not harmful to health.
A meeting next month of the Codex Alimentarius Commission would continue its discussions on the maximum safe level of ractopamine residue, foundation chairperson Joann Su (蘇錦霞) said.
“Why can’t we wait until July to make the decision after an international consensus has been achieved?” she asked.
Although the government has stated that relaxing the ban was needed to resume negotiations with the US on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), Su said: “Can it be guaranteed that our nation’s economy will be truly opened and liberalized if TIFA negotiations resume? And is it worth it to trade people’s health to regain the right to negotiate the TIFA?”
The civic groups and the foundation urged legislators who had proposed a zero-tolerance policy to remain insistent on their proposals and encouraged consumers to call lawmakers to express their opposition to relaxing the ban.
Meanwhile, a non-profit business organization in Washington said on Saturday that Taiwan’s chances of entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are linked to the resumption of trade talks with Washington under a bilateral agreement.
If the legislature votes to relax the ban on US beef imports containing ractopamine tomorrow, Washington would resume TIFA talks with Taipei, US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said.
In turn, the only way for Taiwan to win the support of the US for entry to the TPP is for the two sides to move toward the resumption of TIFA talks, he said in an interview.
Talks under the TIFA, which was signed in 1994, have been stalled since 2007, mainly over Taiwan’s restrictions on US beef imports. Asked about Taiwan’s chances of signing a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the US, Hammond-Chambers said “it’s not possible at this stage” since US President Barack Obama’s administration is currently focused on the TPP, not an FTA.
However, if TIFA talks can be resumed, the two sides could discuss issues related to e-commerce and bilateral investment treaties that would help create business opportunities for both sides, he said.
The Office of the US Trade Representative said in an e-mail interview that the US would support Taiwan’s inclusion in the TPP “at an appropriate time.”
The US supports any new candidate for membership that shows the ambition to reach the high standards of the TPP, the office said.
Taiwan is eager to be included in the TPP agreement being negotiated by leaders of nine countries — Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the US.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man