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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Tsai pledges to increase spending for food safety
National Taiwan University （NTU） president Yang Pan-chyr, left, presents President Tsai Ing-wen with a drawing of herself at the Taiwan Food Safety Summit at NTU’s College of Public Health in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
/ Staff Writer, with CNA
President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） yesterday pledged to increase the government’s budget for food safety by 50 percent next year to improve the nation’s food safety management and inspection system.
Food safety has become an important issue worldwide and her administration has made it one of its top priorities, Tsai said during a speech at a food safety summit held by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health.
The key to maintaining food safety is establishing communication between the government, farmers, food companies and consumers, Tsai said.
When there is a loophole in the process from raw produce to food on the table, it is likely to trigger a food safety crisis, she said.
As part of its heightened food safety efforts, the government is preparing to set up an independent committee responsible for assessing food safety risks, and it will also step up food inspections and establish a regulatory agency for toxic substances, she said.
Along with those measures, the government will focus on improving production management systems, Tsai said, without elaborating.
The government allocates about NT$920 million （US$29 million） annually for food safety, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung （陳吉仲） said in late June.
Chen said the budget will be increased to NT$1.37 billion to support the government’s new food safety policies.
Taiwan has been hit by several food safety scandals in the past few years, including a case in which toxic plasticizers were found in sports drinks, teas and fruit jams in 2011 and a case of adulterated cooking oils in 2014.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
