Ractopamine beef ban lifted, cattle and pig separation not included in law

The issue of whether our country will open its doors to American meat products containing the lean meat stimulant ractopamine was finally settled today, the 25th. The draft amendment to some articles of the Food Sanitation Management Act that are related to this bill staged a vote battle at the Legislative Yuan's extraordinary session this afternoon. The ruling party won with an advantage of 63 votes to 46 votes, and all three controversial articles passed the amendment motion proposed by the Kuomintang caucus. Therefore, the separation of cattle and pigs was not included in the law, but was handled as a side resolution to ensure that only imported beef containing ractopamine is allowed.

The US beef bill staged a voting battle at the Legislative Yuan's extraordinary session. Pictured is Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng presiding over the meeting. (Photo/Taken from the Legislative Yuan website)

In the morning, the opposition party proposed a motion of no confidence against Premier Chen Chong, and the extraordinary session was temporarily suspended. After consultations were convened by Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, it was determined that the motion to overthrow the cabinet could not be handled in the extraordinary session. The ruling and opposition parties reached a consensus and changed the agenda when the meeting was restarted at 2:30 p.m., listing the draft amendment to some articles of the Esophageal Act as the first item. The vote was successfully completed within 40 minutes.

The article states that imported meat can contain ractopamine, and the safe tolerance standard is to be set by the Department of Health. The attached resolution states that "Taking into account the dietary habits of the Chinese people, the safe tolerance range of ractopamine is limited to beef, and shall not include pork and pig and beef offal." Therefore, pork and offal still cannot contain ractopamine.

After the amendment to the Food Administration Act, "mandatory labeling" has also gained a legal basis. In the future, places that directly supply food and any packaged or bulk food must label the origin of the meat. Failure to label will result in a fine of 30,000 to 150,000 yuan, and false labeling will result in a fine of 40,000 to 200,000 yuan.