A campaign launched by the Consumers’ Foundation seeking a national referendum on US bone-in beef imports entered its second phase yesterday.
Foundation Chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁), along with representatives of four other civic groups involved in the campaign, visited the Central Election Commission (CEC) to collect the forms for the second phase.
Hsieh said he hoped they could persuade 1 million eligible voters to sign the petition before an Aug. 10 deadline.
The proposed referendum would ask voters to “veto the government’s decision in November to open Taiwan’s market to US bone-in beef, ground beef and bovine offal and spinal cords from cattle aged under 30 months” and demand that the government renegotiate the beef protocol with the US.
Hsieh said the dispute over US beef imports had not been resolved and that Washington had threatened to retaliate against Taiwan for breaking promises in the protocol signed last year.
Though the legislature has voted to revise the law to force the government to reinstate a ban on imports of US ground beef and beef offal, Washington can demand that Taipei open its market based on the protocol, he said.
Urging the public to speak up, Hsieh said the civic groups hoped people would show the US their concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.
Under the Referendum Act (公投法), a petition is subject to approval by the Cabinet’s Referendum Screening Committee in the first phase, during which the initiator must obtain the endorsement of at least 0.5 percent of the number of people who were eligible to vote in the last presidential election.
The foundation-led initiative passed the first stage last month, collecting 129,000 signatures — far surpassing the 86,000 required among 17.32 million people who were eligible to vote in the 2008 presidential election.
In the second phase, the initiators must secure the endorsement of at least 5 percent of eligible voters within six months of launching the petition.
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