The government should immediately announce a halt to US beef imports, the KMT caucus said yesterday following identification of a fifth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the US.
The lawmakers said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s decision to continue importing beef from the US was negligent and used public health as a “diplomatic bargaining chip.”
The DPP administration in April ordered that eggs that might have been contaminated by dioxins be pulled from shelves for inspection, but instead of putting a halt to imports of US beef, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it is to proceed as usual, KMT caucus vice secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) told a news conference at the legislature.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The FDA adopts strict measures when dealing with domestic food scares, but it cannot determine the severity of the outbreak until it sends officials to the affected areas in the US next week, she said.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration fails to apply the same standards when faced with food safety issues involving the US or Japan, Lee said, referring to reports that the government is considering lifting its ban on food products from some Japanese prefectures that was imposed following the Fukushima disaster.
Lee urged the Tsai administration to deliver on its food safety policy, the part of the party’s platform that is under the most scrutiny.
KMT Legislator Chen Yi-min (陳宜民) said that the government’s standard procedure requires that beef imports from BSE-hit regions be suspended before the FDA sends officials to the affected areas.
He said FDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) violated the procedure by allowing imports of US beef to continue after citing a World Health Assembly report that says the risk of the outbreak is yet to be determined.
KMT vice secretary-general Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the FDA had caved in to pressure and applied double standards.
The Tsai administration should heed standard procedures by having the Council of Agriculture ban US beef imports while the FDA sends personnel to the US to demand that US authorities present documents related to the outbreak, he said.
The FDA should then consult experts by calling a food safety committee meeting and only lift the ban after ensuring that the beef is safe for consumption, he said.
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