Taipei (The China Post/ANN) - Animal farmers, ready to stage a street protest in Taipei amid suspicions the government is acquiescing to U.S. demands on the question of ractopamine, said on Tuesday they were disappointed with government attempts to pacify them.
Meanwhile, in open defiance of her own party, a lawmaker from the ruling Kuomintang drafted an amendment to a law in hopes of establishing a legal basis for the current ban on the import of beef with residues of lean-meat inducing substances found in it.
Farmers Say No
After agricultural officials made the rounds in the country's agricultural areas last week, hog farmers remained adamant that the current ban on ractopamine be upheld.
An official with the Republic of China Swine Association said that, oblivious to the group's long-standing demand that the government hold a meeting to re-align the positions of the government, the industry and academia, the Council of Agriculture (COA) is not even discussing it.
"It is disappointing," said Pan Lien-chou, a member of the association's standing supervisory committee.
According to Pan, he did not meet with new COA Minister Chen Bao-ji when he visited Pingtung County last week, but he is aware that hog farmers, chicken farmers, duck farmers, and goose farmers are against lifting the ban.
"Taiwanese are not second-class citizens. Why, then, can the beef sold to Taiwan contain lean-meat enhancers, while that sold to Europe doesn't?" Pan asked.
Other COA officials were expected to visit rural areas yesterday to try to convince the animal farmers.
Another association official accused the COA of not performing its proper functions. They are here "just to talk hot air," said Lin Chiu-kuei, first vice president of the association, accusing the officials of not meeting the expectations of the farmers.
Sheu Kuei-son, director of the COA's Department of Animal Industry, however, said yesterday after his trip to Miaoli the day before that the purpose of his visit was to solicit opinions from farmers.
"It is premature to say whether the ban will be lifted or not," he said.
Calls for Zero-tolerance
Meanwhile, a perfect storm was in the making within the KMT yesterday, when lawmaker Cheng Ru-fen officially sponsored a bill to amend Article 11 of the country's Food Sanitation Management Act in an attempt to establish the statutory status of the ban actopamine.
Cosponsored by Chang Chia-Chun, the bill calls for zero-tolerance of the residues of lean-meat enhancers.
Passage of the bill would mean that the ban, currently only an administrative measure, will become a legal requirement that takes precedence over the COA's administrative orders. Even if the COA tries to eliminate the ban by an administrative order, the order would run counter to the law and become invalid, according to the Chinese-language United Evening News newspaper.
According to Cheng, she will not officially submit the draft bill to the party caucus for approval until the number of KMT lawmakers who have signed on has passed the legal threshold.
Another lawmaker, Lee Tung-hao from the People First Party, however, was not supportive, saying adopting an "arbitrary" populist measure that runs counter to international standards will alienate the international community of nations.
"Taiwan's long-term goal is to sign free trade agreements with other countries," Li reminded is colleagues in the lawmaking body.
Commenting on Cheng's move, Lin Yi-shih, Executive Yuan Secretary General, said while the Cabinet respected the legislative initiative of legislators, it would try, by furnishing them with adequate information, to make sure they would not be misled by one-sided views.
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