Thu, Sep 10, 2020 page1

• KMT to begin pork referendum drive

  VOTE IT DOWN: The ‘most powerful tool’ for people to use to stop the government’s proposed policies on US meat imports is a referendum, the KMT’s Alicia Wang said

  • By Sherry Hsiao, Chen Yun and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer
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  The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is to begin collecting signatures this weekend for a proposed referendum on the importation of US pork containing ractopamine, the party said yesterday.

  President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 28 announced that Taiwan would ease restrictions on imports of US pork containing ractopamine and beef from cattle aged 30 months or older.

  The policies are expected to take effect on Jan. 1 next year.

  

  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in Taipei yesterday call for food safety laws to be amended due to the proposed import of US pork containing ractopamine.

  Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei Times

  KMT Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang (王育敏) said at a news conference that the party’s supervision of the policy “will not stop” and it is to begin the “first wave” of its referendum drive this weekend.

  The KMT’s chapter offices in the nation’s 22 cities and counties are to jointly launch the signature drive, she said.

  If people do not want to consume US pork containing ractopamine, the “most powerful tool” for them to use to stop the government’s policy is a referendum, she added.

  The KMT also criticized the government’s handling of whether or not pork fat would require country of origin labeling.

  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) late on Monday published draft amendments to food labeling requirements whereby, with the exception of cases where pork fat itself is the product, food products containing pork fat would be exempt from country of origin labeling for the pork fat ingredient.

  The proposed amendments show that the government is “not ready” to allow the importation of US pork containing ractopamine, Wang said, adding that the policy has repeatedly been revised.

  The FDA and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) have expressed differing views on whether pork fat should have country of origin labeling, she said.

  Many products contain pork fat, including egg yolk and mung bean pastries that are often consumed during the Mid-Autumn Festival, she added.

  Meanwhile, the KMT caucus said that it would sponsor legislative amendments to prevent the sale of US meat products containing ractopamine at markets and to require labeling on all foods that contain US meat products.

  The caucus urged Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) to hold cross-party negotiations over the policy as soon as possible.

  It said that it would seek amendments to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) and the School Health Act (學校衛生法), as well as other laws to prevent the sale and use of US meat.

  “Since President Tsai Ing-wen announced that US pork would be imported, the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] has avoided public dialogue on the issue and it has not communicated with the legislature,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said.

  The DPP has dodged legislative supervision and has not listened to the KMT or the public, she said.

  Lin said the caucus would seek to amend articles 15 and 22 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation to add stipulations prohibiting the use of meat containing ractopamine and to require imported pork to be labeled in a manner that describes its intended use, for example, as animal feed.

  It would also seek to amend Article 23 of the School Health Act to prohibit the use of meat containing ractopamine, or processed meat products containing meat that has traces of ractopamine, in school meals, she said.

  Although the School Health Act prohibits additive-laced meats being used in meals, there is no equivalent law for food served at cram schools or kindergartens, KMT Legislator Lee De-wei (李德維) said.

  There are also concerns that the Ministry of Health and Welfare might not adequately monitor imported meat products during the COVID-19 pandemic, given that the monitoring of the quality of masks had been shifted to postal workers, Lee said.

  “Tsai often says that US-Taiwan relations are at an all-time high. The US would not force their good friend to eat poisoned meat, would they?” KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) said.

  The Legislative Yuan announced later in the day that a cross-party caucus meeting had been scheduled for 10am on Monday next week.

  The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) also criticized the government for not communicating with the public on the policy.

  TPP caucus whip Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said that Tsai hastily announced the policy using an executive order and government officials have defended it, but Chen Shih-chung is not even willing to attend a public hearing to communicate with the public.

  TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said that government agencies have promised that police officers, military personnel and students would not be exposed to US pork containing ractopamine, which indicates that it is not safe.

  “If so, why is the government lifting the ban and how will the ministry ensure that people do not unknowingly consume it, as imported pork is often used in processed food?” Chang asked.

  Additional reporting by Lee I-chia, Peng Wan-hsin and CNA
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