By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
Mayors and county commissioners of six Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-governed cities and counties are to announce countermeasures to the central government’s planned move to lift a ban on ractopamine, the party said yesterday.
The officials are scheduled to exchange opinions at a meeting and release a joint statement on Monday in Greater Kaohsiung, DPP spokesperson Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) told a press conference yesterday.
The DPP has reiterated its opposition to the government’s planned lifting of a ban on ractopamine and has said that it would “stand on the same side as Taiwanese.”
The six local government heads include Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who is serving as the DPP’s acting chairperson, Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢), Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬), Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠) and Pingtung County -Commissioner Tsai Chi-hung (曹啟鴻).
Pending the relaxation of the rules regarding the feed additive, the Yilan County Government said it planned to ban all US beef imports that contain ractopamine residue from entering its jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Lo rejected a statement made by American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton, who was quoted in an interview with the Central News Agency on Thursday as saying that Taiwan in 2007 had pledged to make progress on the US beef issue.
Lo said the then-DPP administration did notify the WTO of its planned maximum residue level on ractopamine.
“However, it was not the administration’s final decision on the case, but a step toward wider consultations with the public and experts in Taiwan,” he said
The DPP urged all parties to focus on the safety of ractopamine as there had been much research on the additive in recent years, Lo added.