RACTOPAMINE: The KMT called on the president to apologize for flip-flopping on the US pork issue and demanded that she explain why she decided to lift the ban

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 18, 2020
By: Wu Su-wei and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday proposed amendments to two laws that would require a mandatory 60-day notification before the government announces a new executive order, and that there should be zero traces of the feed additive ractopamine in the offal, brains and spinal cords of local or imported pork products.

Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said that the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Council of Agriculture gave only a seven-day notice before announcing legal amendments to allow the imports of certain US pork and beef products.

The short notice completely undermines the spirit of the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法) and circumvents legislative oversight, leaving no time for stakeholders and the public to voice their opinion on the issue, the party said.

Beef from cattle older than 30 months and pork containing residues of the leanness-enhancing additive are to be allowed to enter Taiwan starting on Jan. 1 next year, after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 28 announced an executive order easing the nation’s import ban.
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