October 13,  2020

Petition calls for stronger measures to control Taiwan's pork imports

A petition has been made, urging for tougher penalties on illegal pork imports entering Taiwan, specialised codes to identify companies using meat containing ractopamine and clear product labeling.

The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) caucus, which made the petition, said that the government has been pushing ahead with its plan to lift up restrictions on US pork and beef imports from January 1 next year despite the continuing public debate of the matter.

It said that it launched the petition on the National Development Council's Public Policy Network Participation Platform to better gauge public opinion and reach a consensus on the issue. The petition has so far gathered 1,133 signatories. At least 5,000 signatures are required to get the government to issue a response.

The petition contains three demands, all of which would require amending the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.

It calls for stringent enforcement of import controls and heightened penalties to ensure that packaging on remanufactured products, mixed goods and food additives clearly indicates whether they contain ractopamine. Secondly, a specialised coding system should be implemented to better identify firms that import products containing ractopamine, the petition stated.

Lastly, it calls for amending food labeling regulations to require clear labeling of food products or additives that contain ractopamine.

- Taipei Times