Taiwan can continue to import pork products containing traces of ractopamine within the legal limits set by the government, after Taiwanese yesterday voted against reinstating a ban.
Official numbers showed that 3,936,554 people voted in favor of banning the imports, while 4,131,203 voted against the proposal.
The government’s decision to allow the imports from the beginning of this year stirred controversy, as many said that the leanness-enhancing additive might affect the health of Taiwanese.
Photo: CNA
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲), who voted near his registered address in Taichung yesterday morning, told reporters that the US government this year withdrew preferential tariffs of about US$700 million to US$800 million for Thailand after the country failed to meet a deadline for setting legal limits on the amount of ractopamine residues in imported pork.
Thailand did not comply with international regulations, Chen quoted Washington as saying.
“As a government agency, our most important task was to provide well-founded information to voters ahead of the referendum,” Chen said.
Photo: CNA
The council had done its best to inform the public about potential health effects and how banning US pork imports would affect the nation’s international relations and pork prices, he said.
Roy Lee (李淳), deputy executive director of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research’s WTO and Regional Trade Agreement Center, said in a television interview that people need to strike a balance between food safety concerns and allowing the government to pursue trade relations with other countries.
“We can control health risks and make sure that people can avoid pork containing ractopamine by clearly labeling the meat’s origin and banning the use of ractopamine” in Taiwan, Lee said.
Imported products only accounted for a small percentage of pork on the market, Lee said.
“However, by allowing the importation of pork containing ractopamine, we will be able to establish more trade partnerships with other countries,” he said.
Former Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital physician Su Wei-shuo (蘇偉碩), who is a member of an alliance of groups that opposes the use of ractopamine in pig feed, said that the government swayed people to vote “no” on the referendum question by telling them how the result would harm national security, hinder trade relations and weigh on the stock market, adding that the ruling party had been effective in mobilizing people to vote “no.”
The result showed that the referendums have lost their purpose in rectifying unsound policies, he said, adding that yesterday’s vote contributed to polarizing the electorate.
The result would lead to the US government imposing more pressure on Taiwan by saying that its pork importation rules contravene WTO regulations, he said.
Even though the government promised to clearly label the origins of pork products, economically disadvantaged people would be exposed to greater health risks, Su said.
The Democratic Progressive Party has told the electorate that banning the importation of pork containing traces of the feed additive might impede Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), said Li Da-jung (李大中), an associate professor in Tamkang University’s Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
However, Li said that the policy would have no influence on the CPTPP bid.
“The US is not a CPTPP member and has said that it will not return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership framework. It would be difficult for the US to reject the entry of another country in CPTPP,” Li said.
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