Power Without Performance is Shameful

Power Without Performance is Shameful
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 16, 2014

Executive Summary: The Executive Yuan is establishing a "Food Safety Office." That is essential. But the government must inspire people and ensure performance, If such an office is not ambushed by black-hearted merchants, it will be inundated by an avalanche of grievances. We want to remind the Jiang cabinet: A government that weilds great power but lacks the ability to help people Is shameful. It must make proper use of its public authority, It cannot sit back and do nothing. while plasticizing agents, toxic starches, rancid oil , and god knows what poisonous substances make their way our food, It must plan ahead!

Full Text Below:

President Ma convened a National Security Council meeting on food safety. He decided to establish up a "Food Safety Office" within the Executive Yuan, and called upon the public to boycott "blackhearted merchants." This was a declaration of intent. But it was a myopic response to the crisis. He failed to propose a comprehensive solution to the problem of inadequate food safety oversight. This sort of thinking cannot cope with emerging food safety issues.

The public boycott of Wei Chuan is the result of long accumulated anger and resentment. But the government cannot look only at the greed of unscrupulous vendors. It must also conduct a comprehensive review of its own administrative shortcomings and failures, in order to prevent any recurrences. The Food Sanitation Management Act was amended six times in seven years. Every time a food safety incident occurred, it was still found inadequate. Clearly the existing system and regulations cannot manage the food industry. Therefore it is imperative to reform the administrative structure, adopt new management tools, and encourage civil servants to act boldly.

In order to prevent greedy manufacturers from taking advantage of the public, heavy penalties are of course essential. But harsh punishments can only be applied after a crime has been committed, as a  warning to others. An effective government must devote greater effort to crime prevention. It must apprehend evil-doers through administrative oversight, by means of interagency communications and scientific testing procedures. It must use the power of the executive branch to create a leakproof safety net. This way, when other manufacturers counterfeit foodstuffs they will swiftly be exposed. This will avoid a systemic crisis that affects thousands of vendors and harms society as a whole.

Recent food safety incidents show that a multitude of administrative omissions need addressing. One. The government knew full well that many restaurants and snack bars were generating massive amounts of waste oil. But it never did anything about it. The Wei Chuan Cheng Yi oil factory produced rancid oil. On their own, Tainan snack bars tracked down the "little bees" who sold unlicensed cooking oil. They discovered many levels of resellers. Kuo Lie-cheng's underground factories produced rancid oil that came from a similar channel. The rancid oil from these sources was readily dispersed. The government must establish a collection channel. It must keep track of the recycling industry product chain. This will help restaurant and shops solve their recovery problem. It will also prevent rancid oil from entering the market.

Two. Increase inspection of raw materials at their source, Compare the ratio of raw materials and goods entering and leaving the market. That is often where vendors engage in fraud. Chang Guann and Cheng Yi oil products were adulterated wtih feed oil imported from Hong Kong and Vietnam. Yesterday Namchow Food brand industrial butter was also seized. Whether they were declared at customs has yet to to be determined. As we can see, the best way to uncover food product adulteration is at the source. This is what Yi Mei Foods means when it talks about "traceability and distribution." Agencies charged with food safety, health, customs, finance, taxation, and the food industry should establish channels by which they can share information. They must forbid plants that produce fodder from also producing food for human consumption. This will prevent feed products from making their way into foodstuffs for people. This will increase the transparency of the production line, and reduce the opportunity for businesses to adulterate their products.

Three. The central government has treated inspections as pro forma ritual. Local governments have ignored private citizen's reports of wrongdoing. Together they created a hotbed for black-hearted businessmen. In recent years, numerous food safety incidents have come to light. In one story, an ordinary man became a hero. Plasticizing agents were in use for 30 years when Yang Chi-cheng discovered their misuse in the laboratory. The Datong brand adulterated oil case was broken by prosecutor Chen Chi-wen and Ye Chien-cheng, The Chang Guann case was uncovered after a farmer in Pingtung reported it five times. These heroes never gave up. Meanwhile scores of civil servants cling to their iron rice bowls. They wielded public authority, but were clearly derelict in their duty, They turned a blind eye to wrongdoing. They revealed indifference to the rights of the people. We must motivate public servants, arouse their sense of responsibility and sense of honor. That is the key to restoring community confidence in food safety.

People remember. In recent years, the Ma government vigorously promoted organizational transformation. It consolidated the ministries of the Executive Yuan. But so-called "organizational transformation" failed to promote integration or enhance performance. It merely broke up agency staff and reclassified them, This enormous undertaking failed to improve performance. It failed to improve the quality of public service. In fact, as the handling of recent food safety incidents shows, the effectiveness of the executive branch has not improved as a result of organizational transformation, Instead organization and coordination have become more chaotic and less responsive; In particular, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has been "heavy on medicine, light on food safety." Its ineptitude has become increasingly apparent and regrettable.

The Executive Yuan is establishing a "Food Safety Office." That is essential. But the government must inspire people and ensure performance, If such an office is not ambushed by black-hearted merchants, it will be inundated by an avalanche of grievances. We want to remind the Jiang cabinet: A government that weilds great power but lacks the ability to help people Is shameful. It must make proper use of its public authority, It cannot sit back and do nothing. while plasticizing agents, toxic starches, rancid oil , and god knows what poisonous substances make their way our food, It must plan ahead!

擁有權力卻無法興利除弊，是可恥的
【聯合報╱社論】
2014.10.16 02:13 am

馬總統召開國安層級的食安會議，決定在行政院設立「食品安全辦公室」，並呼籲全民共同抵制黑心企業。這樣的處理固具有宣示意味，但似乎只是著眼於眼前危機的因應，並未就整體食安管理提出完備的解決方案；這樣的思考方式，恐不足以應付層出不窮的食安問題。

民眾抵制頂新，是出於長期積累的憤怒和不滿；然而，政府看待接踵而至的食安危機，卻不能只看到廠商的無良貪婪，而必須對行政管理的缺漏與失效全盤檢討彌補，才能防止一發再發。《食品衛生管理法》七年內六次修法，每遇食安事件仍覺得不敷使用，即顯示現有制度規章無法有效管理當下的食品產業；因此，翻修行政架構、調整管理手段、激勵公務員勇於任事，皆勢在必行。

為了遏止廠商投機貪婪，祭出重刑重罰以懲其惡行，當然是必要手段。但無論如何，嚴刑峻罰只能用在「事後」的懲奸除惡、以儆效尤；而一個賢能有效的政府，則必須將更多力氣用在「事前」的防微杜漸、摘奸發伏，透過行政體系的管理偵察、部門間的通報勾稽、再加上科學檢驗的法眼，將行政部門的力量集合成一張疏而不漏的防禦網。如此，至少可在個別廠商摻偽造劣之時即將其破獲，避免衍生為牽連影響千百家廠商的「系統性危機」，危害整個社會。

觀察最近幾次食安事件，可以看到行政管理上確實存在許多疏漏的環節，亟待修補。第一，明知坊間餐廳及小吃店有大量廢油產生，卻從未加以管理。這次查獲頂新正義油廠的黑心油，就是台南小吃攤商自行追蹤「小蜜蜂」兜售的無牌炸油，而揭發其間多層次的轉銷；郭烈成地下工廠的餿水油，亦來自類似的管道。這些易於流散的廢油和餿水源頭，政府必須設法建立收集及列管制度，並對回收業者進行流向和流量追蹤，一則幫餐廳小店解決回收問題，二則避免餿水油流入食用市場。

第二，加強源頭檢驗，並溯源比對原料及貨品的進出，往往即是窺知廠商是否造假的源頭。稍早強冠和正義油品混用自香港、越南進口之飼料油，昨天南僑食品也被查獲進口工業牛油等，是否報關之誤有待查證。足見，源頭管道是發現食品廠生產機密的有效線索，這也就是義美建議的「溯源與分流」。食衛部門和海關、財稅、及工業部門應該建立資料分享管道，禁止生產飼料的工廠同時生產食品，使飼料原料不致流至食品；如此，生產資訊的透明度越高，業者藏汙納垢的空間就越小。

第三，中央對檢驗工作的行禮如儀，地方對民眾檢舉的冷漠消極，是培養黑心商人的溫床。近年食安事件的揭發，存在著一個個小人物變英雄的故事：塑化劑流用卅年才被楊技正在實驗室中發現，大統假油案是靠著檢察官鄭智文和葉建成求真的拚勁偵破，強冠案是由於屏東老農前後檢舉了五次。與這些不罷休的英雄相對照的，則是長年在其間捧鐵飯碗、握公權力的大批公務人員，他們是明明職責所在卻敷衍了事，對違法犯紀視若無睹，對人民權益遭侵害毫無感覺。如何振作公務人員的積極性，喚起他們的責任意識與光榮感，則是政府能否重建社會食安信心的關鍵所繫。

人們並未忘記，近幾年馬政府大力推動組織改造，整併行政院各部會的既有職能。然而，所謂「組織改造」，如果沒有促成功能上的整合與提升，而只是在形式上將機構人員打散然後重新歸類，那麼，此一浩大的工程未必能夠提升效能，遑論提高服務民眾的品質。事實上，看這幾次食安事件的處理，我們發現行政部門的效能非但未因組織改造而有所提升，反而因為組織整併而變得協調不良，反應遲鈍；尤其衛福部「重醫療、輕食安」的取向，職能缺失愈發明顯，令人遺憾。

行政院要設立「食品安全辦公室」，目前看來確有必要。但是，若不能展現政府解決問題的企圖，不能把管理機制和相關人員的效能召喚出來，這個辦公室就算不被黑心企業偷襲，也會遭排山倒海的民怨壓垮。我們要提醒江內閣：一個擁有莫大權力卻無法為民興利除弊的政府，是可恥的；請善用公權力，不要坐困愁城。在塑化劑、毒澱粉、黑心油之後，還有什麼食品未爆彈，不能不未雨綢繆！