Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) Agriculture issues will not be included in negotiations between Taiwan and China on a proposed trade pact that seeks closer bilateral economic relations, Council of Agriculture (COA) Chairman Chen Wu-hsiung reiterated Monday.
"Here I can openly tell everyone that agriculture issues will not be included in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) negotiations, " Chen said in a session of the Legislative Yuan's Economics Committee.
"Since the issues will not be discussed, the ECFA will have no impact on Taiwanese farmers at all, " he said.
Agriculture issues are among the most-discussed topics relating to the controversial trade pact, as local agriculture workers and farmers are concerned that once the trade pact takes effect, the further opening of Taiwan to cheaper Chinese agricultural products will allow such products to dominate local market share.
Responding to a question from main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Cheng-ching on how long the ministry can keep the agriculture issue off the negotiating table to safeguard Taiwanese farmers' interests, Chen said it is "a question no-one can answer." But he said Taiwan will not further open its market to Chinese agricultural products. "At least not in my term, " he said.
A total of 1,415 Chinese agricultural products have been allowed access to Taiwan since the country's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2002, while 830 products are still banned.
The government pledged earlier that the ban on those 830 items will not be lifted. Officials said the upcoming ECFA talks will not touch upon agriculture issues, but did not say they would not ever be discussed.
Earlier in the session, ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Hsiao Ching-tien expressed doubt about the ECFA impact on Taiwanese agriculture, citing statistics that show Taiwan's imports of Chinese fruit are 2.4 times those of exports to China, while imports of Chinese vegetables are 14.8 times those of exports.
Chen reiterated three preconditions of the ECFA negotiations that Premier Wu Den-yih stated in a Dec. 29 interview -- the trade pact must be consistent with the country's needs, must be favored by public opinion and must be subject to the supervision of the Legislative Yuan.