By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday vowed that his administration would continue to place public health as the top priority when it partially lifts a ban on US beef imports and reiterated that he had not made any promises to Washington on the issue.
He said it was the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government that promised the US progress on resolving the beef issue and presented a plan in August 2007 to the WTO to establish maximum residue levels for ractopamine, but failed to carry it out.
His administration had to deal with the unresolved issue left by former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration, Ma said, adding that his government would finalize the policy based on discussions with experts and reduce the risks to the minimum.
“Public health is our top priority in handling the issue, and I do not have any preconceived stance [on the issue]. The policy [of lifting the ban on US beef] was made based on the experts’ conclusions that there is no scientific evidence that ractopamine is harmful to human health,” Ma, who is also the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, said at the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee meeting.
Ma also rejected speculation that his administration had promised the US last year during his election campaign that he would facilitate the lifting of the ban.
“It’s absolutely not true. I did not make any promises to the US, and I did not lie to anyone ... The issue with ractopamine is a continuing issue that was stalled under the previous administration. However, as a responsible government and a WTO member country, we must deal with it,” he said.
The plan to lift the ban on US beef containing ractopamine had nothing to do with the US’ visa waiver program or arms sale to Taiwan, Ma said, while acknowledging that the beef issue was a factor in suspended bilateral negotiations on a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
The committee also invited Premier Sean Chen to present a report on the government’s handling of the US beef issue.
Chen attributed the public’s lack of support for the US beef policy to a recent outbreak of avian flu, and promised to put greater effort into restoring public confidence in the government’s ability to handle food safety issues.
Separately, the DPP reiterated its opposition to the lifting of the ban on ractopamine and demanded Ma apologize for his “incompetence” in handling the US beef issue and allegations of a government cover-up of an outbreak of H5N2 avian flu.
The DPP has established a six-member panel composed of three executive officials of its legislative caucus, led by convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), and the three deputy secretaries-general to coordinate efforts between the legislative caucus and the six DPP-governed cities and counties, DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said.
People’s power is what could make the biggest difference, Lin said, and the DPP is calling on all Taiwanese to call or write to elected officials who support the lifting of the ban and voice their opposition to the controversial feed additive.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang