Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) did not promise to import US pork containing ractopamine residue and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), as the head of state, should speak the truth, Ma’s office said in a statement yesterday.
The office released the statement after Tsai, in her New Year’s Day address on Friday, touched on disputes over her administration’s decision to further open the domestic market to US beef from cattle aged 30 months or older and pork containing traces of the leanness-enhancing additive.
“I fully understand why previous administrations could not follow through with their promises to do that,” Tsai said. “Taiwan depends on trade to survive. This issue was left pending by three successive administrations, so there was no way to avoid it.”
Photo: Weng Yu-huang, Taipei Times
The office said that the Ma administration had agreed to import US beef from animals under 30 months, but had insisted that US beef and pork remain separate issues.
By contrast, the Tsai administration is allowing US beef from cows of all ages and has allowed the importation of US pork with residual ractopamine, without excluding entrails, which generally have higher residue levels, it said.
More than 80 percent of 161 nations have banned meats with residual ractopamine, and that exports of US pork with residual ractopamine face difficulty is a problem for the US government, not for Taiwan, Ma’s statement said.
The Tsai administration has surrendered without a fight on an issue that past presidents have proved could be withstood, it said, adding that the actions are not a solution, but instead create more problems.
“We ask that President Tsai take responsibility for her administration’s own actions, instead of blaming previous administrations,” the statement said.
The Tsai administration owes the public an apology for trying to dodge blame for hastily enacting national policies, it said, adding that her administration should make it clear to the US government that Taiwan welcomes imports of US pork, just not pork with residual ractopamine.
Only then would trade be conducted under the principle of a free and open market, without asking people in Taiwan to sacrifice their health, Ma’s office said.
Separately, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Li Meng-yen (李孟諺) said that there should be a unified national food safety policy, otherwise the food industry would find it difficult to abide by the rules.
Local governments should take their lead from the central government, Li said. If local governments impose fines for “violating local ordinances,” companies should be able to seek compensation from the central government.
The remarks come as several local governments — primarily those held by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — have said that they oppose the central government’s announcement on Thursday last week that local government ordinances banning meat products containing traces of ractopamine would be nullified.
The KMT has pledged to help local governments seek a constitutional interpretation on the legality of the government’s move to invalidate local ractopamine bans.
Additional reporting by CNA
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