Food products contaminated by radiation cannot be imported to Taiwan, but no samples of Japanese food have been found to exceed legal standards, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
The Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee required Wu and Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to report on the nation’s relations with the US and Japan following four referendums on Saturday last week.
One of the questions asked if voters agree that there should be a total ban on imports of pork products containing leanness enhancing additives — ractopamine and other beta agonists.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The referendum did not pass.
While the US had expressed concern about the potential harm to bilateral ties had voters passed the initiative, the result showed that Taiwan is willing to comply with international standards for food products, Wu said.
Lawmakers asked Wu if the government would start negotiating with Japan about lifting a ban on food imports from Fukushima and four neighboring prefectures after a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant following a tsunami in 2011.
Photo: CNA
Any food products contaminated by radiation cannot be imported to Taiwan, but food imports from Japan sampled for testing have not been found to exceed legal standards, Wu said.
The ban should be lifted if no radiation is detected in Japanese food products, he said.
The government has not yet started negotiations with Japan on the issue, Wu said, adding that it would refer to international standards and scientific evidence to deal with the matter.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not in charge of food products, but the government as a whole would monitor food safety, he said.
Asked about the nation’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Wu said that many member states had privately welcomed Taiwan’s application.
The government on Sept. 22 submitted a formal application to join the bloc, six days after China.
The government is in the process of conducting formal consultations with some of the member states and informal consultations with others, Wu said.
“Everything is going smoothly so far,” he said.
Separately yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee said that a decision on food imports from Fukushima had already been reached.
Food imports from the areas would be allowed from next quarter, Tseng said, citing a high-level national security official.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that she was unaware of such a decision.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said that food with levels of radiation in excess of legal standards would never be allowed on the market.
Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成), citing remarks by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), later told reporters that the ban on Japanese food imports is an inevitable issue for the government, but discussions have not yet started and there is no timetable for them.
At the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting, several KMT lawmakers expressed displeasure at Hsieh’s absence from yesterday’s session.
The Democratic Progressive Party member has scorned the legislature by refusing to report to it, despite repeated requests, KMT lawmakers said.
Hsieh last week posted photographs on Facebook, writing that he had returned to Kaohsiung to vote in the referendums.
Hsieh asked for leave from the legislative session to handle official work, Wu said, but added that he could not disclose the content of the work.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang and staff writer
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