Members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday raised concerns about how to manage school meals in light of the government’s policy to allow US pork imports containing ractopamine residue.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 28 announced that Taiwan would ease restrictions on US pork imports containing the “leanness-enhancing” additive and beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, saying that the decision was “based on our national economic interests and consistent with our overall strategic goals.”
The policy is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
On the same day as Tsai’s announcement, the Ministry of Education released a statement saying that schools that provide meals must prioritize the use of quality local agricultural products accredited by the central competent agricultural authority in accordance with Article 23 of the School Health Act (學校衛生法), which also prohibits schools from using foods that contain genetically modified ingredients.
The ministry asked that schools at all levels use domestic pork and beef in the meals that they provide.
At yesterday’s committee meeting, several lawmakers commended the ministry for issuing the statement, but raised doubts about the implementation of the policy.
“Since US pork is cheaper than domestic pork ... how will we use market mechanisms to ensure that [school caterers] would not use imported US pork?” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) asked Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠).
Huang added that many parents were beginning to doubt whether there was sufficient personnel to inspect school meals given that there are nearly 4,000 schools below the senior-high level.
“With this many schools below the senior-high level, how would we catch breaches?” he asked.
Pan said that the ministry has over the past month discussed with local governments the inclusion of penalties in their food service contracts.
On its Campus Food Ingredients Registration Platform, the ministry has made the listing of the origin of meat items mandatory, he said.
The popularity of food delivery platforms among senior-high school students creates another food safety issue on school campuses, Huang said.
Regarding origin labeling for food delivery platforms, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said that platforms would be required to include such labeling in their online menus.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee De-wei (李德維) asked Hsueh whether the ministry would be willing to establish a “leanness-enhancing agent victims’ fund.”
If a causal relationship could be proved, regulations such as the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法) would be able to address the issue, Hsueh said.
While the ministry’s response to Tsai’s announcement was “quick,” doubts remain among the public, DPP Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) said.
The ministry and the Council of Agriculture should create centralized “campus food supply centers” in administrative districts in the nation’s city and counties, Chang Liao said.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS