Premier Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday reaffirmed the government’s plan to lift a ban on Japanese food products from five radiation-affected prefectures, saying that the deregulation would be carried out scientifically and gradually, while confirming that extra public hearings are planned after the 10 held over the weekend and on Monday ended in chaos due to protesters’ interference.
Taiwan and China are the only two nations that maintain a ban on food imports from the Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba, but Taiwan has to adopt a scientific approach to the food safety issue, as the ban creates an unfair trading environment, Lin said on Monday during a televised interview.
“Scientifically speaking, if the products pose no health risk, should we not reopen [imports of banned Japanese food] like other nations?” Lin said. “From a free trade perspective, it is absolutely unreasonable to prohibit products that are not radioactively contaminated.”
Photo: Tsai Meng-shang, Taipei Times
The nation has suspended food imports from the five prefectures since the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011.
Lin said that the ban would be lifted partially and conditionally, as food products from Fukushima Prefecture are to remain banned and products from Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba are to be allowed conditionally, while aquatic products and wild mushrooms from those prefectures would remain prohibited.
Produce from the Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba have been collectively and mistakenly described as radioactively contaminated, Lin said, likening the prefectures to Changhua and Miaoli counties’ proximity to nuclear power plants in New Taipei City.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The government will not lift the ban on products considered to be risky to consumers, even if they are allowed to circulate in Japan, such as foods that are prohibited for people younger than 18 due to high radioactivity.
“Our standards will only be stricter, not more relaxed, than those of Japan,” Lin said.
Lin’s remarks were aimed at easing public concern about the proposed lifting of the ban, as the controversy surrounding the issue has escalated, with protesters paralyzing 10 public hearings held by the Cabinet on the issue, while a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker has publicly opposed the proposal.
Lin said he regretted violence at the hearings, adding that the government has not yet finalized a deregulation plan and welcomes the public’s opinions.
“The new government has been dealing with unfair trade [regulations] on Japanese food imports at a gradual pace, but the government does not have to lift the ban now,” Lin said.
The Japanese government complained about Taiwan’s strict import rules well before the DPP took power in May, and Japanese trade representatives paid him a visit when he was running a DPP think tank, Lin said.
He rejected allegations that the proposed easing was made in exchange for closer economic ties and a meeting between People First Party James Soong (宋楚瑜) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at this weekend’s APEC summit, at which Soong is to represent President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
“The allegations are too far-fetched, too unrealistic. I have to say that there is no such a thing,” he said.
Lin confirmed that extra public hearings on lifting the ban would be held, but did not specify how many or when they would take place.
Meanwhile, the legislature yesterday failed to reach a consensus on the issue, as DPP lawmakers did not show up for a cross-caucus negotiation.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus has demanded that a Taiwan-Japan mutual judicial assistance agreement be signed before the ban on food products from Japan’s radiation-affected regions be lifted.
The New Power Party caucus has called for the establishment of a Taiwan-Japan investigation and evaluation team, saying no imports should be allowed before the team presents a comprehensive report to the legislature.
Additional reporting by CNA
Three cases of Candida auris, a fungus that can cause a yeast infection known as candidiasis in humans, have been reported in Taiwan over the past few years, but they did not display drug resistance, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said yesterday. Lo made the statement at a news conference in Taipei, one day after the Washington Post reported that the potentially deadly fungus is spreading in US hospitals. The fungus was first discovered in Japan in 2009 and poses a danger to immunocompromised people, with an estimated mortality rate of 30 to 60 percent, Lo
‘DIRE’: Taiwan would not engage in ‘dollar diplomacy,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, after China reportedly offered Honduras up to US$3 billion to establish relations The government yesterday recalled its ambassador to Honduras after the Central American nation sent its foreign minister to China, signaling that it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Suspicions concerning ties with Honduras are rife after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday last week wrote on Twitter that her country would pursue diplomatic ties with China. Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina traveled to China on Wednesday “to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations” on instructions from Castro, Reuters yesterday quoted Honduran presidential spokesman Ivis Alvarado as saying. The government “has decided to immediately recall the ambassador to Honduras
SWITCH TO BEIJING: The government severed diplomatic relations about an hour after Honduras announced the move, saying that no semi-official ties would be maintained Taiwan severed diplomatic ties with Honduras and ended all cooperation with the Central American country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, about an hour and a half after the Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Twitter at 8am Taiwan time that the nation would cut its ties with Taiwan. Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Wednesday sent Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina to Beijing to negotiate the establishment of diplomatic relations. She announced the plan on March 14 on Twitter. “To safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity, Taiwan is terminating diplomatic ties with Honduras with immediate effect” after communication with
MEDIA, SOCIETY FOCUS: Doublethink Lab said that Beijing is trying to coerce countries that rely on China economically to pursue policies in its favor China has stronger influence over Taiwan’s media and society than any other country, the Taipei-based Doublethink Lab think tank said yesterday, as it announced its China Index gauging Beijing’s global influence. Taiwan ranked 11th overall among 82 countries assessed, but first in terms of social and media influence, Doublethink Lab chairman Puma Shen (沈伯洋) told a news conference in Taipei. More than 200 experts and academics participated in the project, including some highly influential figures, Shen said. The index collects information from countries worldwide to gauge China’s influence and assess how Chinese policies affect them, Shen said. In terms of Chinese