A struggle broke out yesterday between government officials and participants at a public hearing in Tainan, on the easing of a food import ban from five Japanese prefectures.
Ten public hearings were scheduled to be held from yesterday to tomorrow around the nation as part of a move widely seen as paving the way for the lifting of a five-year ban on Japanese food products from the five prefectures following the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.
Yesterday’s public hearing in Tainan was the first and was presided over by the Council of Agriculture’s Department of International Cooperation Director Chen Chun-yen (陳俊言), Council Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) and the Executive Yuan’s Office of Food Safety, while officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Atomic Energy Council were also in attendance.
Photo: Chan Shih-hung, Taipei Times
Shortly after the hearing began, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Tainan City Councilors Tsai Yu-hui (蔡育輝) and Lu Kun-fu (盧崑福) led about two dozen people into the venue, demanding that the hearing be suspended.
They said that the central government was “sneaky” in its handling of the public hearing.
Lu said that he only learned about the hearing on Friday evening.
Photo: Chen Wen-hui, Taipei Times
Lu allegedly twice pushed Chen Chun-yen during the protest.
Tsai and Lu presented a signature book to show that only one member of the public was attending the hearing and asked: “Is this a one-man public hearing?”
The group questioned the legitimacy of the hearing when only government officials, protesters and policemen were in attendance.
The group held protest signs, with some throwing the papers on the chairman’s table and spilling his cup of water, shouting: “The food that even Japanese will not eat is going to be exported to Taiwan. Are our children worth nothing?”
Police reinforcements were sent in to help maintain order. The public hearing was disrupted for about one hour.
When it reopened, the group said the hearing was in violation of regulations, adding that a public hearing should be announced 10 days before it is held.
“This public hearing is not valid. The Executive Yuan has grossly violated the law,” one protester said.
Chen Chun-yen said the council would review the procedural issue.
About 10 minutes before the hearing closed, the chairman’s table was overturned.
Chen Chun-yen then called an end to the hearing after its scheduled two hours, and both council officials left the venue under police escort.
A similar public hearing was held in Chiayi yesterday morning, in which participants said the government’s responsibility is to protect people and ensure food safety.
They asked why the government wants to import risky food.
Chen Chi-chung has said that a partial reopening of Japanese imports could start next year, but would not include items from Fukushima Prefecture.
In a public hearing held in Yunlin County yesterday a table was flipped over amid verbal clashes over the ban easing.
On Thursday, Chen Chi-chung said Japan would still be required to produce certificates of radiation inspection and certificates of origin with each shipment, and Taiwan would also inspect shipments at its borders.
Food imports from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba prefectures have been suspended since March 25, 2011, because of fears of radioactive contamination in those areas from a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The disaster was triggered by a massive earthquake and a tsunami on March 11, 2011.
Since May 15 last year, importers of Japanese food products have been required to present certificates of origin to prove that their items do not originate from any of the five prefectures.
For some imports such as tea, baby food, dairy and aquatic products, radiation inspection certificates are also required.
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