August 16, 2007

Taiwan's pig farmers accuse government of "kowtowing" to US
 

Pig farmers in Taiwan are planning for a demonstration next week in front of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to protest a decision to lift a ban on ractopamine -- an animal drug that promotes growth of lean meat in livestock.

US meat containing ractopamine was turned away last month. Although the drug is used in many major meat-producing countries like the US, Australia and even Japan, it is banned in Taiwan.

Taiwan's Department of Health announced Tuesday evening that it will ease its ban to allow a limited use of the animal drug, which was listed last year by the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA) as a banned drug. 

The lifting of the ban came in spite of strong promises by the Department earlier that it would not do so. This has led the Republic of China Swine Association to charge that the Department had capitulated under pressure from the US, a charge the Department has denied.

Besides mounting protests, pig farmers would also vote in the coming legislative and presidential elections against political parties supporting the lifting of the ban, a representative from the Swine Association said.

In its defense, the Department said the latest scientific evaluation indicated that some kinds of ractopamine are not harmful to human health and thus raise no food safety concerns for consumers.

The lifting of the ban has also created an uproar in legislative circles in Taiwan, with calls from rival parties asking the Head of the Health Department to step down while the Consumers' Foundation who is also involved in the demonstration next week, is urging consumers to boycott US pork.