The Cabinet yesterday announced that it has no intention to make any changes to regulations concerning the usage of the veterinary drug ractopamine at the moment.
"We will not do anything before we finish discussing with related professional personnel and analyzing all the data we have collected," said Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉). "No matter what we do, public health and pig farmers' rights will always be our concern."
Shieh made his remarks during a press conference at the Government Information Office yesterday morning.
PHOTO: CNA
In addition to the announcement, Shieh also said that officials from the Council of Agriculture (COA) are planning to meet with local pig farmers today to understand their concerns and let them know what the government has been doing regarding the issue.
Shieh mentioned that related WHO regulations will be important references for the government in establishing future policies on the usage of the drug.
"As far as I am concerned, the WHO is now working on a review and re-evaluation on the issue and the results will be available in September. That will become an important reference for us for sure," Shieh said.
Meanwhile, several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators put forth a legislative proposal yesterday, urging the government not to relax restrictions on the drug's use.
At a joint press conference, DPP Legislator Wu Ming-ming (吳明敏) said people's health would be influenced if the government allows pork imports with ractopamine because it is difficult for people to differentiate between local and imported pork.
"Taiwan cannot allow two different regulations of ractopamine," DPP Legislator Yen Wen-chang (
DPP Legislator Chen Hsien-chung (陳憲中), who initiated the proposal, urged the government to defend the "character of the nation."
"The government should not lift the ban just because there was pressure from other countries," he said. "In terms of many issues, we have to defend our dignity."
At a separate event, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus criticized the DPP government's policy as "US-oriented" only.
TSU Legislator Yin Ling-ying (
"The government said it had used Japan's policy as reference while planning new regulation on ractopamine, but it failed to notice that Taiwanese people have different diet habits from Japanese people," TSU caucus whip Tseng Tsahn-deng (
Also yesterday, the Consumers' Foundation urged Taiwan consumers to boycott US pork.
At a news conference held over the government's about-face on the policy on the use of ractopamine in pigs and cattle, foundation officials called for consumers to reject imported US pork and fast food that might also use ractopamine-contaminated US pork.
Foundation secretary-general You Kai-hsiung (游開雄) criticized the government for having succumbed to US pressure by lifting its ban on ractopamine, which the COA banned last October after cases were reported abroad concerning the effect of the drug on consumer health.
Citing seven cases related to ractopamine poisoning reported in Hong Kong and the Chinese province of Guangdong between 1997 and last year, You said more than 100 people in the two areas developed symptoms, including racing heartbeat, dizziness, difficulty breathing, headache, muscle cramp, vomiting, diarrhea and high blood pressure, after consuming pork containing ractopamine.
One patient died 15 days after being rushed to hospital, he said.
Currently, he said, ractopamine is not banned in only 24 countries, including Japan and the US, and is banned in more than 160 countries, including Taiwan, China and members of the EU.
Additional reporting by CNA
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS