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.
‘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
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
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS