The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday said it would not ban the use of kitchen waste as pig feed, despite increasing calls from hog farmers and experts for a ban to prevent the transmission of African swine fever.
More than 280 hog farmers on Friday in a joint statement called on the council to prohibit feeding pigs leftovers.
Using leftovers to feed pigs is a backward practice and provides a hotbed for virus transmission, they said, urging the council to protect and upgrade the hog industry.
Photo: CNA
Instead of imposing an immediate ban, the council is encouraging farmers to switch to commercial fodder by providing subsidies and technical assistance, COA Chief Secretary Chang Chih-sheng (張致盛) told a news conference in Taipei.
The council last year identified 2,045 hog farms using leftovers as pig feed, but that number has fallen to 1,776 after the rest had switched to commercial fodder by yesterday, Chang said.
Leftovers are just one channel for virus transmission and the risk can be minimized by heating leftovers to 90°C for at least an hour, as they are required to do, Department of Animal Industry Deputy Director Wang Chung-shu (王忠恕) said.
The council next week would meet with experts and local representatives to further discuss the matter, he added.
Taiwan produced about 970,000 tonnes of leftovers in 2017, of which 770,000 tonnes were used as pig feed, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Bureau of Environmental Inspection Deputy Inspector-General Lin Jso-hsiang (林左祥) said.
If feeding kitchen waste to pigs were banned, restaurants and hotels producing more than 16kg of leftovers per day would need to contract firms to process them at disposal fees of NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 (US$64.80 to US$97.20) per tonne, he said.
The nearly 200 firms nationwide that produce more than 1 tonne of leftovers per day are advised to install their own fast-fermenting devices, Lin said, adding that the agency would meet with such businesses next week.
Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan (張麗善) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Dec. 25 announced a ban on using leftovers as pig feed, making it the first municipality to do so.
The move drew criticism from Premier William Lai (賴清德).
The county produces about 90 tonnes of leftovers every day, which are now sent to local plants for disposal, including Nan Ya Plastics Corp’s recycling plant, Yunlin Environmental Protection Bureau Director Chang Chiao-wei (張喬維) said via telephone yesterday.
The central government should fully support the county’s plan to do so and follow suit by announcing a national ban, he said, asking whether the central government would be ready to tackle all leftovers if the disease enters the nation.
Meanwhile, customs officials had as of Friday intercepted 127 illegal imports of meat products, including 44 pork products from China, since Dec. 18, when it raised fines for first-time offenders to NT$200,000 and repeat offenders to NT$1 million, council data showed.
Chunghwa Post Co yesterday reminded people not to import any meat products from overseas, not to order foreign meat products by mail and not to visit foreign farms.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS