With the failure of a referendum on restricting pork imports, public attention is now shifting to another food safety issue: restrictions on food imports from Japan.
Taiwan has banned imports of food produced in several Japanese prefectures affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. This ban has become a persistent source of friction between Taiwan and Japan.
On Wednesday, Premier Su Tseng-chang responded to questions about whether the government plans to lift the ban soon. Su said the results of Saturday’s referendum on pork imports demonstrate that the public respects science and international standards when it comes to questions of food safety.
Su said the government will use scientific evidence and these same international standards to deal with the question of whether to lift the ban on importing food products produced in certain parts of Japan.