The Ministry of Education yesterday released draft revisions to a contract template for the procurement of meals by schools from outside vendors to fulfill its policy that all schools use domestic pork and beef in the meals they provide.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 28 announced that Taiwan would ease restrictions on imports of US pork containing traces of the animal feed additive ractopamine, as well as beef from cattle aged 30 months or older. The policy is to take effect on Jan. 1.
That same day, the ministry issued a statement saying that schools should give priority to the use of local, quality agricultural products certified by the central competent agricultural authority in the meals that they provide, in accordance with Article 23 of the School Health Act (學校衛生法).
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The statement asked schools at all levels to use quality domestic pork and beef.
It has always been the government’s policy to give priority to the use of local, quality agricultural products for ingredients in meals provided by schools, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
To assist local governments and schools in carrying out the policy of using domestic pork and beef, the ministry is revising the procurement contract template so that schools can more effectively regulate vendors, it said.
According to Article 23-3 of the act, schools that purchase meals from outside vendors should use a procurement contract template prepared by the ministry as a reference for the contracts they sign with suppliers and submit the contracts to the competent authority for reference.
The ministry’s proposed revisions to the template requires the use of meat and its processed products, as well as eggs, that are domestically produced.
Vendors found to have falsely supplied products would face a penalty of 15 to 20 points, up from the current 10 points, according to the draft revisions.
Vendors that accumulate 20 penalty points would have their contracts terminated, the ministry said.
The ministry is to publish the revised contract template at the end of this month, it said, adding that it hopes it can be applied from Jan. 1.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday criticized the the ministry’s plan, proposing instead that amendments be made to the act.
Additional reporting by Chen Yun and CNA
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