Local governments could seek a constitutional interpretation if the central government decides to nullify local municipalities’ food safety regulations demanding “ractopamine-free” products, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Evaluation and Discipline Committee director-general Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元) said yesterday.
Media reports have cited an anonymous Cabinet official as saying on Saturday that the central government was considering whether to nullify such new food safety regulations, but a decision would not be made until the Executive Yuan communicated further with local governments, hoping that they would drop plans for such rules.
The Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Thursday voted to approve a slew of administrative directives related to the government’s decision to lift restrictions on imports of pork containing ractopamine and on US beef from cattle older than 30 months, effective Friday. Ractopamine remains banned from use in domestic livestock farming.
Executive Yuan Secretary-General Li Meng-yen (李孟諺) said that ordinances by several local governments requiring zero tolerance for ractopamine in pork are causing confusion, not only because they conflict with Cabinet-level directives, but they also contradict one another.
Since the central government is responsible for enforcing food safety regulations, there should be a unified regulation so that the public is not at a loss as to what to do, he said.
The Executive Yuan would address the issue once it has gathered more opinions from local governments, Li added.
However, Yeh said that the Local Government Act (地方制度法) stipulates only that autonomous regulations carrying penalties must be sent to the central government for approval.
Those without penal measures can take effect immediately upon passage by a county or city council, and are not subject to central approval, he said.
While the Council of Grand Justices is deliberating a case, regulations established by local authorities remain in effect and cannot be overturned, modified or suspended by the central government, he added.
If the Democratic Progressive Party administration insists that local regulations are illegal or unconstitutional, local councils should in principle support local governments in filing for a constitutional interpretation, Yeh said.
City and county governments could also form a coalition to file for an interpretation by the grand justices, and the KMT headquarters would provide assistance if requested, he said.
The decision to label the local regulations as contradictory would be determined by the central government’s own political wisdom, Yeh added.
Additional reporting by CNA
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the