Taiwan to ban types of US beef

The opposition party in Taiwan successfully revised existing regulations for a direct ban on certain beef products from the US.

 

 

Led by DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, the DPP lawmakers surrounded the seats of Legislative Yuan speaker and deputies in an early morning meeting and protested the import of US ground beef and internal organs.

 

They demanded an amendment to the Food Hygiene Administration Law to include the skulls, brains, eyes, trigeminal ganglions, spines, spinal ganglions, spinal marrow, and internal organs of cattle, ground beef and related products from areas possibly infected with mad cow disease into the category of foods that are banned from manufacturing, processing, packaging, storage, delivery, import/export, selling, and public display or to be used as giveaways in Taiwan.

 

The DPP legislators also demanded a temporary ban on the importation of these products lawmakers before completing the law-revision procedure, forcing the legislative caucus of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) to accept the DPP demands that afternoon. Through the resolutions, the DPP proposal will directly come to the second reading by the lawmakers.

 

KMT legislators said they will submit their own version of the draft revision and continue coordinating with DPP colleagues, however they stressed the amendment legislation must be wrapped up before Nov. 17.

 

DPP Chairwoman Tsai criticized the KMT administration for delaying the US beef dispute with "technical trade barriers" as it possesses no ability of fully blocking the entry of the beef products with potential safety threats. The best way to solve the problem is to reopen negotiations with the US and tighten the food hygiene regulations, she said.

 

Frank Hsieh, a former premier and DPP chairman called for voters' support for DPP candidates in the December local elections, stating there will be a chance to reopen the beef trade talks with the US as long as the DPP can pick up seven seats for municipal and county administrations, exhibiting the public opinions backing the DPP policies.