In south Taiwan’s pig-producing heartland, the government’s contentious decision to ease restrictions on imports of US pork is rankling some producers and dividing families.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) decision in August to allow imports of US pork containing traces of ractopamine — an additive that enhances leanness, but is banned in the EU and China — has roiled the nation’s politics.
In Pingtung County, a major pork-producing area, pig farmer Wu Jung-en, 63, said that he was “furious and shocked” when he heard the news.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
“I am quite worried this will make people fear pork, so maybe they will not eat it anymore. It is a terrible thing for us,” said Wu, who has a passel of about 10,000 hogs.
However, his 32-year-old son Wu Hung-chi does not see it that way.
“I have told my friends that if they are scared, then go and buy warm-body pork,” said Wu Hung-chi, referring to meat eaten shortly after slaughter, rather than frozen.
“It is a free market. If it is no good it will be phased out. Nobody is forcing you to eat it,” he added.
That is an argument the government makes, saying its decision brings Taiwan in line with international practice.
Taipei is also hoping the move eases the way for a free-trade deal with Washington.
The main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opposes the move on safety grounds, holding noisy protests, and even on one occasion flinging pig guts in the Legislative Yuan.
Pork is the nation’s most popular meat, with the average person consuming almost 40kg annually.
Most of the pork consumed is domestically reared, with only about 1 percent currently coming from the US.
Teng Hung-chao, a pork farmer for more than three decades who runs an agricultural sales cooperative in Pingtung, said that he was also angered by the move, fearing the impact at home.
“The United States is a major pork producer that is quite competitive, so imports will be cost effective, but it cannot be forced on us, bringing chaos to our industry and taking it down,” Teng said.
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