Executive Yuan spokesperson Hu Yu-wei (胡幼偉) last night urged opposition parties to reconsider their stance against easing the ban on imports of US beef containing ractopamine residue after the Codex Alimentarius Commission narrowly voted in favor of maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the livestock leanness-enhancing food additive.
The Democratic Progressive Party, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the People First Party had suggested that Taiwan hold off on a decision on revising its zero-tolerance policy on ractopamine until after the commission made a decision about the draft MRLs for ractopamine, Hu said.
“Hopefully they can now use the Codex Alimentarius standard as a reference in deciding their position,” Hu said.
Last night, the Executive Yuan learned that the draft MRLs proposed by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which serves as a scientific advisory body to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the WHO and the Codex Alimentarius Commission — the international food standards body — were ratified at the 35th Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting in Rome this week.
In 2004, the JECFA recommended MRLs of ractopamine of 10 parts per billion (ppb) in muscle and fatty tissues, 40ppb in livers and 90ppb in kidneys of cattle and pigs.
The government learned that the US called for a vote on the adoption, deviating from normal practice, in which food-safety standards are decided by consensus.
He said the government has learned that the Codex Alimentarius Commission agreed to hold a vote on the draft MRLs by a vote of 68 to 64, and 69 countries then voted in favor of the proposal, while 67 were against it.
Since 2004, it has been proved scientifically that beef containing traces of residue under the MRLs is safe for consumption, Hu said, adding that the Rome vote again demonstrated that the products do not harm human health.
DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said the party had learned that the MRLs have been passed and it agrees that Taiwan should adopt the international standards.
The DPP insists that public health and food safety are a priority and that it never opposed imports of US beef, Lin said, adding that it values economic relations and the strategic partnership with the US.
"What we stressed was that the ban on importing beef containing ractopamine should not be lifted before the international community reached a consensus on the issue," Lin said.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
This story has been updated since it was first published.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among
RSS