Amid the ongoing food scare stemming from chemical-tainted beverages and other food products, Vice Premier Sean Chen said yesterday that “it’s not the right time” to look into responsibility of government officials.
“It’s not the right time to talk about responsibility,” Chen said, drawing an analogy that the first thing to do when a fire breaks out is to put out the fire in an efficient way, not probing the management of firefighters.
Chen said that before determining liability of government officials, authorities needed to understand the whole situation concerning the progression of the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法), the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (毒性化學物質管理法) and other administrative measures adopted in this regard.
“That being said, it does not mean we will not” investigate the liability of officials, he told a press conference held following the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Yesterday’s meeting approved an amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation in a bid to deter food safety violations.
The proposed amendment suggested raising the maximum fine for violators who add illegal ingredients to food and beverages from the current NT$300,000 (US$10,463) to NT$6 million.
If a death results from illegal additives in food and beverages, violators would be subject to a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a fine of up to NT$10 million from the current penalty of three years in prison and/or a maximum fine of NT$900,000, the amendment said.
The government wants the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment before June 14, when the legislature adjourns for summer recess.
Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) said the food sanitation act, if revised, would not be applied to the recent cases in which chemicals like di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, and diisononyl phthalate, or DINP, were discovered in clouding agents sold to food processors.
Also at the meeting, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to publicize regulations requiring certain food exporters to present certificates affirming that their goods do not contain harmful chemicals before shipping them to other countries.
Five foodstuff categories are subject to the regulation: sports drinks; juice; teas; fruit jams and syrups; and tablets or powders.
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