Legislators yesterday again failed to deliver on a promise to come to a consensus on amending the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) to address perceived flaws in the Taiwan-US protocol that allows the entry of what some lawmakers have called “unsafe US beef products.”
Legislators initially set a deadline of Nov. 17 to amend the legislation based on the agreed conclusion reached at a cross-party negotiation meeting, however, lawmakers last Friday postponed the deadline to yesterday, but a settlement is still not in sight.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday revised its original version. The original banned imports of skull, brains, eyes, spinal cords, ground beef and intestines from “areas affected by mad cow disease or areas with a history of the infections,” while the new version banned such products from “areas affected by mad cow disease or areas with a history of the infection in the last 10 years.”
PHOTO: CNA
The Act had allowed the import of US ground beef and intestines, but if the amendment passes, such imports would be banned from entering the country because the US discovered its third mad cow disease case in 2003.
“The latest DPP version was close to the [KMT caucus’] position, but the Presidential Office still has concerns over violation of the protocol,” KMT caucus whip Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said.
“If the Presidential Office is OK with the DPP’s version, the KMT caucus will support it. If not, we hope the Office will explain to the public its reasons,” Lu said.
The KMT’s latest proposal says that skulls, brains, eyes and spinal cords imported from areas where mad cow disease has been reported in the past 10 years should be banned from entry and ground beef and intestines without examination credentials issued by exporting countries that it has been thawed and passed batch-by-batch inspections should not be allowed entry.
The legislative plenary session, scheduled to review bills, sat idle the whole day yesterday because of the disagreements.
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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