The Next Minister of Health and Welfare Will Also Have to Step Down

The Next Minister of Health and Welfare Will Also Have to Step Down
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 13, 2014

Executive Summary: Food safety scandals have harmed Taiwan's economic development, making food safety a national security issue. Following wave upon wave of food safety crises, the Executive Yuan should have learned its lesson. It must establish an inter-ministerial oversight system. The new Minister of Health and Welfare must shoulder responsibility. He can no longer merely issue vague suggestions. He must strengthen food safety inspection mechanisms. He must not pass the buck for first line inspections onto local health authorities. He must have the courage to oversee upstream food manufacturers. Otherwise food safety crises will never end. And the Minister of Health and Welfare's rice bowl will no longer be assured.

Full Text Below:
 
The Executive Yuan is actively seeking a new Minister of Health and Welfare. We can confidently predict that unless the government makes structural reforms to food safety management, whoever assumes the post will soon be forced to step down. We are confident because former Minister of Health and Welfare  Wen-Ta Chiu, in a parting shot, predicted that another food safety crisis would erupt in short order. Sure enough, the new ministerial candidates have yet to be determined, but  another, even more serious incident has occurred, in which feed oil was mixed with edible oil, once again undermining Taiwan's reputation as a Mecca for gourmets.

Food Safety crises are fated to occur repeatedly, because  government heads do not understand what they must do to ensure  food safety. The food safety crises are the result of unscrupulous merchants trying to make a dishonest buck. The government has failed its role as watchdog. For this it cannot evade responsibility. Before Wen-Ta Chiu accepted the post, he complained about the media's coverage of food safety incidents. He argued that central government agencies were merely responsible for promoting policy and studying and amending laws and regulations. He considered health inspections a local government responsibility. Chiu's thinking represented the Ministry of Health and Welfare's long held misconceptions. This sort of thinking was the reason five days after Chiu stepped down an even more serious food safety crisis erupted.

The bottom line is that Taiwan is small in area, and its food industry network is closely knit. Food production chain coopetition and the division of labor are  closely related. If an upstream food company's product is contaminate, the impact affects everyone downstream. Food science and technology are constantly evolving. The relationship between the two is close. New technologies and products are rapidly introduced into the production chain. Meanwhile government regulations, inspection standards, and inspection methods have failed to keep up with the times. As a result food safety crises can erupt at any time, The scale of these crises are increasing. Therefore the Executive Yuan cannot simply convene inter-ministerial meetings to address the problem after an outbreak has occurred. Rather it must establish a comprehensive, long term oversight and  prevention mechanism.

The USA, Japan, Germany, and other advanced countries have also experienced rancid oil food safety incidents. After their painful lessons, they established new systems. For example, they require restaurants to report the volume of oil they take in and the volume of rancid oil they take out. U.S. regulations require all rancid oil to be collected and processed by government agencies. This prevents unscrupulous operators from recovering the oil, refining it, and reselling it as edible oil for a profit. Japan and the United States have adopted the same approach. They also require that the recycled oil have toxic castor oil added to it. That makes impossible for the recycling industry to resell the oil as edible oil. Instead, it is made into biodiesel.

The Health Department was the predecessor to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The Health Department, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs introduced the recycling of waste cooking oil into biodiesel. But sludge from the biodiesel blocked fuel lines, therefore the policy was terminated in May of this year. As a result, large volumes of waste oil entered the production chain, poisoning the public. The conversion of waste cooking oil into biodiesel was sound policy. A technical glitch led to its premature termination. That was a shame. The Executive Yuan will call for inter-ministerial coordination to solve the problem of sludge obstructing fuel lines. This is not a valid reason to discontinue a sound policy.

The Department of Health and Welfare must get to the root of the problem. It must rethink food safety oversight. It must exercise control over food at its source. The new Minister of Health and Welfare must alter his mindset. He must be bold. If food can be properly controlled at its source, downstream food manufacturers may violate food safety laws. But the damage will be limited and more readily controlled. It is less likely to affect Taiwan as a whole. The manufacturers of source ingredients is not the purview of local government authorities. The central government Ministry of Health and Welfare must assume responsibility. The Executive Yuan must establish an inter-ministerial mechanism. It must establish a downstream food chain oversight mechanism. Taiwan has too many tiny food stalls. Oversight mechanisms must work in combination with market mechanisms.

There are thousands of legal food additives. As long as there are profits to be made, people will willingly commit even hanging crimes. The slightest omission on the part of the government, and someone will find a legal loophole by which to make illicit profits. Large scale food manufacturers such as Chang Guann and Cheng Yi, must exercise closer oversight. The Ministry of Health and Welfare shoulder a heavy responsibility. Downstream food manufacturers are scattered all over the province. These will be overseen by county and city health bureaus.

Once Taiwan is admitted to the WTO, it must eliminate any hint of trade barriers. It must open itself to a steady stream of processed food imports. Many food plants process imported raw materials for redistribution. These sources can establish a border oversight system. This must be coordinated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and  implemented by the responsible agencies. They must not pass the buck at every turn. They must transcend county and municipal level lines, in order to  uncover violations.

The Food Safety and Health Administration Law has been amended six times in seven years. It should be one of the most stringent food regulations in the world. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is determined to punish violations of food safety. It is amending the law post haste, increasing fines tenfold.

But this is a piecemeal, stop-gap measure. Health inspectors have the resources to investigate scofflaws. They lack only criminal investigation authority. The new Minister of Health and Welfare can no longer cite the law as an excuse to do nothing.

Food safety scandals have harmed Taiwan's economic development, making food safety a national security issue. Following wave upon wave of food safety crises, the Executive Yuan should have learned its lesson. It must establish an inter-ministerial oversight system. The new Minister of Health and Welfare must shoulder responsibility. He can no longer merely issue vague suggestions. He must strengthen food safety inspection mechanisms. He must not pass the buck for first line inspections onto local health authorities. He must have the courage to oversee upstream food manufacturers. Otherwise food safety crises will never end. And the Minister of Health and Welfare's rice bowl will no longer be assured.

社論－誰當衛福部長都會很快垮台！
    2014-10-13 01:36
    中國時報
    本報訊

　行政院正積極尋覓新任衛福部長人選，我們可以斷言，除非政府就食安管理問題做出結構性改革，否則無論由誰接任，都會很快垮台。我們如此篤定，是因為前衛福部長邱文達的臨別贈言，已預言食安風暴即將再起。果然，新任部長人選尚未確定，又爆發了更嚴重的食用油混雜飼料用油事件，再度重創台灣美食王國聲譽。

　食安風暴注定一再爆發，癥結原因在政府首長的食安管理責任認知錯誤，食安風暴固然是無良商人唯利是圖使然，政府未盡到把關之責更難辭其咎，而把關的責任在政府。邱文達下台前，曾對媒體的食安事件報導與評論發出不平之鳴，認為中央單位只負責政策推動、法規研修，稽查是地方政府衛生局職責。邱文達的思維，正是衛福部一貫的謬誤想法，就因這種偏差心態，邱下台才5天，馬上又爆出更嚴重的食安風暴。

　追根究柢，台灣面積小、食品產業網絡綿密，生產線食物鏈的水平競合與垂直分工關係緊密又契合，只要一家上游食品大廠中鏢，傷害就如滾雪球般擴大。而食品科技日新月異，學產關係緊密，新技術、新產品迅速納入生產線，但政府的管理法規、檢驗標準與方法卻未能與時俱進，使食安風暴隨時可能爆發，而且震幅不斷擴大。因此，行政院不是只是在事件爆發後，召開跨部會會議就個案做出處置，而必須建立整體可長可久的稽核防範機制。

　美國、日本及德國等先進國家都曾發生餿水油食安事件，經歷慘痛教訓後，都建立新制度，譬如嚴格規定餐廳向政府登記進油與餿水油量。美國規定回收的餿水油全部歸政府部門處理，以避免被不肖業者回收提煉，搖身一變為食用油牟利。日本與美國作法雷同，更要求回收油必須添加有毒性的蓖麻油，讓回收業者不敢精製回收油銷售，卻可以製成生質柴油。

　台灣也曾經由衛生署（衛福部前身）、農委會與經濟部合作，推出回收廢食用油轉製生質柴油政策，卻因油泥阻塞油管問題，今年5月已喊「卡」，大量廢食用油因而流入食用油生產鏈，荼毒國民健康。廢食用油轉製生質柴油政策正確，卻因執行技術面出了問題就輕率喊停，殊為可惜。行政院應召開跨部會協調解決油泥阻塞問題，而不是讓好的政策隨意停頓。

　衛福部必須正本清源，應就食品稽核工作重新分工，從食物源頭開始管控，新任衛福部長第一要務必須調整心態、勇於任事，如果源頭管控得宜，即使中下游食品廠商爆發食安違法情事，影響層面也可以局部控制，不致於全台遍地延燒。源頭大廠就不是地方政府所能有效稽查，必須由中央衛福部承擔責任。行政院則須啟動跨部會機制，建立食物鏈最下游管理機制，台灣小攤商太多，管理機制必須與市場機制結合。

　國內合法食品添加物上千種，只要有暴利，殺頭生意都有人做，政府管理稍一疏漏，就會有人鑽法律漏洞大賺黑心錢。一定規模食品大廠的稽核工作，如強冠、正義等，應由衛福部扛起重責，分散全省各地中下游食品廠，交由各縣市衛生局列管稽核。

　台灣加入WTO後，為避免貿易障礙的質疑，源源不斷開放加工食品輸入。許多食品廠也是進口原料再加工產製分銷，這些源頭可以建立國境管理制度，這必須由衛福部協調相關部會落實稽核，而不是動輒推諉，以跨縣市聯合稽查敷衍行事。

　《食品安全衛生管理法》罰則7年來已修改6次，應是全世界最嚴厲的食品法規之一。衛福部為宣示重懲黑心食品決心，又快馬加鞭研擬修法提高罰金額度10倍，這終究是「頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳」，衛生單位稽查不法已有足夠的法源，只差沒被賦予刑事偵查權，新任衛福部長不能再以法規不夠嚴峻做為託詞。

　食安已重創台灣經濟發展，形同國安問題，行政院歷經這幾波食安風暴，應痛定思痛，建立跨部會完整稽核體系。寄望新任衛福部長要有肩膀，絕不能再聽任部屬空泛建言，必須強化食安稽查管理機制，不要再把第一線稽查重責，全部推給地方衛生局，勇於扛起最上游食品大廠稽核權責，否則食安風暴永無止盡，衛福部長烏紗帽誰戴都不安穩！