Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chih-ching (陳志清) yesterday reiterated the council’s opposition to imports of US pork containing the leanness-promoting additive ractopamine, following controversial remarks by agriculture minister-designate Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻), who said US pork imports are an inevitable part of the nation’s push to join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In media interviews last week, Tsao said that there was nothing he could do to stop imports of US pork containing ractopamine, as Taiwan is a small economy that does not have the leverage to refuse imports of US pork in a globalized world.
The remark drew criticism across party lines, and the incoming Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration has been accused of making secret deals with the US at the expense of the public’s health and the nation’s pig farming industry.
During a question-and-answer session at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee scheduled to discuss a draft bill on food and agriculture education yesterday, Chen said he respected Tsao’s opinions, but the current administration would continue to adopt separate approaches to US beef and pork imports.
“The future government will decide future agriculture policies, and the council has left the regulations of ractopamine-containing pork to be addressed by the new administration. Taiwanese have different dietary habits from other Asian nations such as Japan and South Korea. Taiwanese consume seven times more pork than beef, and we like to eat intestines, which is why the government has insisted on handling US beef and pork imports separately,” Chen said.
“What is the point of today’s meeting on food and agricultural education when the agriculture minister-designate has already said that imports of US pork are unstoppable due to Taiwan trying to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership? The draft bill [proposed by DPP legislators] was a slap in the DPP leadership’s face by DPP legislators,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Li-shan (張麗善) said.
“The KMT administration has insisted on handling US beef and pork imports separately and maintaining a zero-tolerance policy on ractopamine residue [in imported pork] to protect citizens’ health. I do not know how the new government can protect the public’s health when it has shown its hand before negotiations even start,” Chang said, adding that excessive consumption of ractopamine can damage the human reproductive system.
In talks with the US last year, the Taiwanese government stood firm on its stance of separating permits for imports of beef and pork, and the use of leanness-promoting additives in domestic pig farming is banned to protect the public’s health, Chen said.
KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) questioned the efficacy of a system that would require ractopamine-containing pork to be labeled, asking how consumers could discern whether pork served at diners and food stalls contained the substance.
It is indeed difficult to label and differentiate unpackaged products and ground meat, Chen said, adding that it takes cooperation among government agencies to execute inspections.
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