Welfare Recall Not Required in Taiwan
TAIWAN - Meat traders and dealers selling products from animals slaughtered in inhumane ways will not be asked to withdraw thier product from sale, says the Government. There are currently no rules mandating such a practice so such actions cannot be enforced.Cheng Hui-wen, director of the Food Sanitation Department under the DOH made the remarks in response to reports that the US Department of Agriculture (DOA) had ordered the recall of 143 pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, because of an animal abuse of investigation.
US DOA officials were cited as saying that a video showing workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse, had started the investigation. The video also showed some animal having water forced down their throats.
According to the current Food Sanitation Law and the Animal Infection Diseases Prevention Law, only beef, pork or other animal meat products plagued by infectious diseases can be forcibly removed from sales stands, the DOH's Cheng said. Nevertheless, he called for local dealers or importers to remove beef products from their sales stands in line with the DOA's order on products from the US slaughterhouse under investigation.
Meanwhile, Chiang Wen-chuan, director of the Animal Industry Development under the Council of Agriculture, also noted that unless the US DOA offers evidence that beef products are infected, relevant authorities will not ask dealers to remove beef products imported from the California slaughterhouse.
Chiang also said it is difficult for officials to determine whether oxen are abused before or during the process of being slaughtered solely from the imported beef product. In addition, officials with the DOH and the COA said they didn't know whether beef products from the California slaughterhouse had been imported to Taiwan or not.