Premier Chang San-cheng has criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for changing its policy on imports of US pork. He was speaking on Friday.
Pork and beef produced in the US generally contains leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine, which is banned in Taiwan.
Chang said that during the campaign leading up to this year’s general election, the DPP had advocated a zero-tolerance policy on US pork. But he said that now that the DPP is preparing to take the reins of power, it has changed its position. Tsao Chi-hung, who is set to become agriculture minister in the new DPP government, said Thursday that Taiwan cannot resist the pressure to allow US pork in.
Chang said that the current government has maintained a policy of holding separate talks on imports of US pork and US beef. That’s because Taiwanese people eat less beef than Americans. By contrast, they eat more than twice the amount of pork that Americans eat.
Chang said that the current government has agreed to open up to US pork on the basis of scientific findings. But he said the available data doesn’t Taiwan’s culture and Taiwanese eating habits into account.
Pig organs are a normal part of the Taiwanese diet but are rarely eaten in the US. Traces of drugs like ractopamine tend to be more concentrated in the organs. Chang said that Taiwan cannot accept imports of US pork until appropriate scientific data becomes available.