Mon, Mar 08, 2021 page6

• Import bans must have scientific foundation

  • By Vincent Tsai 蔡濁瀝
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  The Chinese government on Feb. 26 announced an import ban on Taiwanese pineapples, saying that scale insects were found in several imported batches.

  As a result, pineapples that were originally scheduled to be exported to China had no place to go, and pineapple farmers found themselves exposed to huge losses.

  The Council of Agriculture (COA) has said that even if Taiwanese pineapples were contaminated with scale insects, the Japanese government would only require that they be fumigated before being released.

  This highlights the Chinese government’s rogue and unreasonable behavior.

  Judging from news reports over the past few days, Taiwanese are as angry as they are frustrated.

  As Beijing bullies and pressures Taiwan, Japanese companies and people have initiated a campaign to buy more Taiwanese pineapples in the hope that this might help Taiwanese farmers make it through this difficult period and minimize their losses.

  In light of the disparate approaches to the issue in the two export markets, and the anger that China’s unreasonable and rude actions have stoked among Taiwanese, one can only wonder if the public has considered that Taiwan continues to ban imports of food products from five Japanese prefectures because it still considers them potentially radiation-contaminated 10 years after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.

  Many Taiwanese feel that China is using the insects as an excuse to harm Taiwanese pineapple farmers, and that the ban might contravene international regulations, but what are Taiwan’s reasons for continuing to ban the food imports from Japan?

  In December last year, COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said during an interpellation session at the Legislative Yuan that the rest of the world had removed restrictions and resumed food imports from the area, and that Taiwan and China were the only two countries with restrictions still in place.

  Chen also said that other countries have conducted strict tests of food products from the five prefectures and that all results were within the legal limits, showing almost zero contamination with radioactive material.

  People in other countries are just as afraid as Taiwanese of consuming radiation-contaminated food products. Given that other countries have conducted tests and removed import bans on food products from the area, it is confusing that Taiwan continues to uphold the ban.

  Is Taiwan abiding by international trade regulations? Is it reasonable to uphold the import ban?

  Taiwanese should at times put themselves in the shoes of others. Although food safety is of course important, banning certain imports should be based only on scientific standards.

  Taiwanese do not tolerate the unreasonable trade barriers imposed by China, its bullying and pressure on the nation, but Taiwan continues to ban the Japanese food imports based on a completely unscientific notion of radioactive contamination.

  In what way is this not just another unreasonable trade barrier?

  It has been two years since Taiwanese in a referendum in 2018 voted in favor of upholding the import ban on food products from the five Japanese prefectures, and it is time that the public engage in some self-reflection.

  Vincent Tsai works in the semiconductor industry.

  Translated by Perry Svensson
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