Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua says that Taiwan could miss its chance to join the CPTPP trade bloc if an upcoming referendum on pork imports passes.
Taiwan voters will go to the polls in December to decide whether to reinstate a ban on pork imports treated with the chemical ractopamine. Ractopamine is a feed additive that promotes leanness in pigs. The use of ractopamine is banned in Taiwan, but at the beginning of the year, the government began allowing the import of US pork containing the additive.
That decision has removed a major source of trade friction between the US and Taiwan, but it has proven controversial.
On Thursday, Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua said that reinstating a ban on ractopamine-treated pork could have consequences beyond US-Taiwan trade.
She said that while the US is not a member of the CPTPP, several countries that are members also allow farmers to add ractopamine to pig feed. She said that those countries could make allowing imports for ractopamine-treated pork a precondition for Taiwan’s admission to the CPTPP.
Wang said that if Taiwan spends too long wrangling over the ractopamine issue, China could succeed in its bid to join the CPTPP first. She said that once a member, China would block all future attempts by Taiwan to join. She said that time is therefore of the essence when it comes to settling the ractopamine issue for good.