Angry over the government’s plan to conditionally lift an import ban on US beef containing ractopamine residues, thousands of pig farmers converged in Taipei yesterday and pelted the Council of Agriculture building with eggs and pig excrement, as some clashed with the police deployed outside the government complex.
Many of the protesting farmers chanted anti-US beef slogans and held English-language placards that read: “President, dare you say no to USA?”
The Executive Yuan announced on Monday night that it plans to lift a ban on US beef containing traces of ractopamine, a lean-meat additive. Pig farmers fear that lifting the ban could spark widespread health concerns that would affect consumption of other meat products and undermine their livelihoods.
Photo: CNA
As the farmers gathered in front of the Legislative Yuan yesterday morning before the march, a number of lawmakers arrived and expressed their support.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said that DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers are against meat containing ractopamine. People First Party caucus convener Thomas Lee (李桐豪) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) also showed up to voice their support.
Pan Lien-chou (潘連周), spokesman for the Republic of China Swine Association, said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration had been “fooling around, concealing the truth, suddenly changing its policy” and “forcing people to pray for their own fortune.”
Photo: Reuters
A hog farmer surnamed Chang (張) from Changhua County said that domestic farmers were “strict” and “never allowed to use ractopamine, but now the government is forcing us to accept meat with ractopamine residues, and we cannot allow it.”
“We are not against US beef or the TIFA [Trade and Investment Framework Agreement]. We farmers are not against economic growth, but we are against sacrificing our health,” he added. “However, the government has not presented any supplementary measures to the policy. What if it is proved that ractopamine residues do harm human health?”
“The prices of pigs have dropped rapidly since the public does not have faith in the quality of pork products now,” said another hog farmer, surnamed Lu (呂).
While it costs about NT$6,200 to NT$6,500 to raise a large pig, the price has dropped to below NT$6,000 in the past month.
“We are losing money on each pig we raise,” Lu said.
Police declined to estimate the size of the protest, but organizers put the number at about 10,000 participants.
Hsu Kuei-sen (許桂森), head of the council’s husbandry division, met the protesters and invited the directors of the national and local associations into the building for negotiations. However, one of the protest leaders and an association director, Yang Guan-chang (楊冠章), said they only wanted to meet with Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基).
Chen came out about two hours later and invited the representatives into the offices.
After more than an hour of negotiations, the council and the farmers reached a consensus on the five demands.
First, the council agreed to maintain its inspection standards of zero levels of ractopamine residue before the legislature makes any amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) and that it would strengthen inspections, as well as impose heavier penalties on violations.
Second, the council would negotiate with state-owned Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖) to delay the release of its pig supply to the market and freeze excess supply of meat products.
Third, the council agreed to the farmers’ demand for the enforcement of the “95 mechanism” (a government guarantee to buy agricultural products at 95 percent of their production cost when market prices fall below a certain level).
The council also agreed to their fourth and fifth demands, to increase the agricultural budget and “not to hold the next technical advisory committee meeting before the legislature amends the Food Sanitation Management Law.”
After the rally ended, a farmer surnamed Fang (方) from Taitung County said: “I took a bus at 1am in the morning just because I cannot tolerate it anymore ... but I am only half satisfied with the result of today’s rally, because the legislature is still a barrier.”
“We should not jeopardize the health of our children, so we are against ractopamine residues in pork and beef,” Fang said. “We’ve seen pigs that eat feed containing ractopamine. The pigs’ muscles became like that of Mr Fitness and they could hardly support their own weight ... It was really strange and we can’t let people eat that.”
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS