Amid ongoing food safety scandals, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday demanded that a unit under the Executive Yuan take charge of the implementation of regulations on food safety.
Ma made the remarks in a press statement following a three-hour national security meeting that began at 6:30pm.
According to the Presidential Office, it was the first time food safety issues have been addressed in a national security meeting presided over by Ma since he took office.
The to-be-established office could be modeled on the Executive Yuan’s disaster relief system and would aim to coordinate intergovernmental efforts to inspect and monitor food manufacturing to ensure compliance with standards, the statement said.
Since the discovery of cooking lard oil products tainted with recycled waste oil early last month, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) has held nine intergovernmental conferences at the Cabinet level to address food safety issues, including one held before last night’s meeting.
In addition to Cabinet officials, the meeting was attended by National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), National Security Bureau Director-General Lee Hsiang-chou (李翔宙) and leaders of other intelligence agencies, who would cooperate with the administration to track down “black-hearted” food producers by providing tips, the office said.
“The government must show its determination to eliminate black-hearted businesses so people can get their lives back to normal,” Ma said.
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